Lingering
by Alcandre
Summary: Kim finds a temperamental cat outside her apartment so decides to take care of it, hoping that some pet therapy will help after hearing some disturbing news. But why does this cat remind her of someone she once knew? Kigo. Written with Six-string Samurai.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Kim Possible is belonging to the Disney. This is but a humble work of fan-fiction.

Lingering

A Fan-fiction by Alcandre & Six-string Samurai

_There was a faint tinkle of broken glass, and the contents of the display case were swept up into a velvet bag by a black glove. The shadow in the darkness of the store stilled suddenly, as light flooded in through the windows, then disappeared a heartbeat later. False alarm then, nothing more than the headlights of car passing by. Shego relaxed; lowering the arm she'd raised to preserve her night-vision._

_She was only in St. Louis for the weekend, keeping an eye on Drakken while the scientist attended an annual lecture on isotoner, or something. The thief hadn't really been paying attention at the time, and since the job wasn't gofer work, she hadn't felt all that inclined to know the sordid details._

_Drakken's little soirée had ended that afternoon and she'd gone on a little stroll once he'd dismissed her, telling her to take the rest of the time off the clock. So, she'd done just that and gone for a little sightseeing on foot downtown. At that's when she'd come across this tiny mom & pop antique shop._

_Despite being the weekend, the place had been open fairly late into the day, and she'd spend a good deal of time sifting through odds and ends, trying to find something that caught her eye. Eventually, the pale woman made her way to the back of the store, where a huge case of jewelry stood in front of two large German cuckoo clocks._

_The clocks were wonderfully carved, and looked pretty old, if she were any judge, but the thing that eventually pulled her curiosity was a piece of jewelry tucked away toward the back of the top row in the case. Her eyes were almost drawn to the string of nine tiny jade hoops strung through with a copper-tinted chain. Naturally, the case was closed and locked, and she hadn't seen the proprietor since entering the store fifteen minutes ago._

_Pressing against the glass Shego could just make out the edge of a price tag. The first digit was scrawled in a scratchy hand, and looked to be either a six or an eight, but there wasn't any such discrepancy with the twin zeros at the end._

"_Almost a thousand dollars for a piece of wire and a few rocks…please," the thief tore her eyes away from the necklace, scanning over the rest of the merchandise in the case. Maybe there was something else a little more in her price range. She hadn't gone out with the intention of doing any real shopping, and the most cash she had on her was maybe a fifty and a couple of twenties. She'd seen a sign in the window as she walked in, proclaiming the store was 'cash only.'_

_But, the necklace was too good to pass up. She had to have it. So she came back when the store hours were more accommodating._

Once she dropped Drakken off at his current lair, Shego parked the hovercraft they'd taken to St. Louis, and hopped into her own car to head home to the apartment that she'd been renting for the past year.

The roads on the outskirts of the city were slick with the recent rain, but the thief wasn't paying too much worry, since it wasn't actually raining at the moment. As she pulled up to a stop sign, she flipped down the makeup mirror and gave herself a once over, checking out the rings that rested in a line just above her cleavage. "Damn sexy, if I don't say so myself," Shego flashed her teeth, pleased with the hang and weight of the necklace. A loud honk from behind startled her, and she snapped the sunshade back up, muttering under her breath, "Jerk."

The car honked again, when Shego's car didn't move immediately.

"I'm going, damn. Keep it in your pants," she threw her arm up with a proffered middle finger so that the car behind her could see it through her rear window. "Some people, I swear," the pale woman groused, flooring the accelerator. She just wanted to get home and unwind from the trip, coupled with the irritation of impatient drivers; it was understandable that she completely missed the six-wheeler that skidded through the intersection, t-boning her coupe just to the fore of the driver's side.

For just a moment, Shego's world was without sound, the raindrops that had started to fall again were dancing through the air, aglow with the headlights of the truck that was doing its best to melt with her tiny sports car. And then there was a horrible tearing sound, all too bright lights, and the trickle of warmth and wetness from too many places. Vertigo took hold as her vehicle spun from the impact, sideswiping the irritable car behind hers, and coming to a final rest half-overturned in the irrigation ditch at the side of the road.

Glassy eyes stared back at her from the crooked rearview that dangled back and forth like a pendulum across her vision. Eyelids that carried the weight of the world slowly drooped, and the last thought that crossed her mind was an absurd one. Who saves the bad guy?

******

Chapter 1

******

The news of the villain's death came as a shock to some and a relief to others. To Kim Possible, it was the former. Not only was the one villain she could fully let loose on dead, but she had to hear about it on the news. And hearing the droll voice of the news reporter state, "In other news, sidekick to notorious Dr. Drakken was killed in a car accident today," made her stomach drop, her heart stop for just a second, and her eyes water.

At first, she thought it was a big practical joke. There was no way Shego could be killed so easily. Heck, Kim herself could barely lay a finger on her when they fought. How was it fair that something so, ordinary, would be the end of her rival? It was unbelievable.

But from the college student's viewpoint at the cemetery, it didn't look the least bit staged.

She didn't attend the burial, not in the open anyway. How could she? Not only would her friends and employers question her, the other attendees at the funeral would most certainly wonder. DNAmy, Monkey Fist, Dr. Drakken, and Duff Killigan would probably fight her out of the service.

So, she'd snuck into the cemetery and stood as far away as possible during the ceremony. And when everyone had finally left she made her way up to Shego's gravestone, and just stared at it.

"You're really dead," she finally whispered. "I can't believe it. You're dead." She slowly sank to her knees and ran a hand over the gravestone; the words "You will be missed," feeling rough under her fingers.

"I feel…I feel sad," she admitted. "You were a worthy opponent. And…" she paused and continued studying the gravestone. "And…I liked you." A smile found its way to her lips. "You had a weird sense of humor and your sarcasm could make anyone scream, but I liked you."

Sighing, she stood up. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to get to know you better. We would have made a great team if we had been on the same side. And I think we could have been something like friends." She dusted off her pants. "Maybe…next time, in another life."

And with one last glance at her arch-enemy's gravestone, Kim Possible left the Cemetery for Villains and their Sidekicks.

The drive home was uneventful, which was probably a good thing since Kim wasn't really focused on her driving. Her thoughts kept turning to Shego.

She pulled into the parking lot of the apartment complex she lived in and sighed. It still seemed so… surreal. What was happening to her? Why was this affecting her so much? It hardly made sense, for her to be feeling this way over the death of someone she really didn't have all that normal of a relationship with. It wasn't like the two of them had been close. They hadn't even been friends for crying out loud!

Taking a deep breath, she shook her head and got out of her car. "Get over it, Possible," she muttered. "She's gone. There's no use getting all worked up about it."

She walked over to her building, her thoughts still clouded, but something lying in the bushes beside the stairs leading to her apartment caught her attention. A small black cat; and it wasn't moving.

"Kitty?" Kim asked softly, crouching down and peering through the bushes. The cat didn't move. "Kitty?" Kim said again, this time shuffling closer. Still no sign of movement, but Kim did catch a faint rise and fall of its chest. It was alive at least.

She cautiously stuck her hand into the bush, her mother's voice ringing in her mind about the dangers of strays. But, when her hand made contact with the soft fur, and it didn't illicit a reaction, Kim knew something was wrong.

The redhead quickly but carefully extracted the cat from the bush, softly whispering comforting nothings, hoping that if it did wake, it would be less inclined to sink its claws into her. When the cat was finally in her arms she stood up, and making sure not to jostle the little bundle, made her way to her apartment.

Once inside, she cradled the cat in one arm and pulled out a towel from her bathroom. After wrapping the still limp cat in the towel she placed it on the red leather sofa in her den and hurried to the kitchen to call her mom, hoping that a brain surgeon would know _something_ about cat care.

******

Shego was fuzzy on a lot of things at the moment. Everything was all wrong, skewed. The thief wasn't positive, but she just knew something was wrong; she wasn't safe where she was. She had to keep moving.

"One foot in front of the other, yes, that's the way. Have to keep moving. Another step, you can do it…move damn you," it was all she could do to mentally prod herself just so she didn't collapse on the side of the road she was stumbling along.

It wasn't easy on the ex-hero; she couldn't explain it because her head was killing her. It was hard enough just to get a concrete thought across. Everything was all jumbled and even the simple act of getting her feet to listen was difficult. It pissed her off to no end. At least it did the few times she managed to muster up anything other than a sort of feeble weariness.

She'd decided that she must be sick, maybe with the flu. Her head sure felt like it was stuffed with cotton, and she was crazy short on breath. Everything felt squished.

Looking around, nothing was familiar, and things that appeared close in fact ended up being much farther away than she anticipated. She didn't quite know where she was headed, but she let the tight feeling in her chest guide the way.

Night fell by the time Shego made it to something she could recognize, an apartment complex that towered above her head. She knew this place, but the sight of it rising so high only made her second guess herself. What was it? Why was she here, of all places?

Because something in her gut told her it was safe here. "This is…this, Kim--" the rest of thought went unformed as her legs finally gave out, and she collapsed near a tree and a huge block of stone, exhaustion finally taking its toll now that she felt she was out of harm's way.

******

"Just keep it warm, Kimmie. It may just be exhausted, hungry, and cold." Her mother then laughed. "And find out the sex so you can stop calling it an 'it.'"

Kim hung up the phone, her forehead wrinkled in worry. Her mom basically had told her to just keep an eye on the cat, since the young woman couldn't find any visible wounds.

Kim walked back into the den, partly relieved and partly upset to see that the cat hadn't moved the entire time she had been on the phone with her mom. She sat down next to the sleeping cat and gently unwrapped it from the towel.

"Okay, first things first," she muttered, lifting the cat up. "Pardon me," she said as she moved the tail and checked to see if she had found a boy or a girl cat. "It's a girl!" She said with a grin. For some reason, she pictured a huge banner exclaiming just that in pink letters.

"Okay, now that that's done, let's get you warm." She wrapped the cat back in the towel and slowly lay down on the sofa, cradling the still limp body to her chest. "You can rest here while I watch the news."

She picked up the remote and turned on the T.V., barely moving an inch. And as the news played out, the cat slept on and was soon joined by Kim. Their combined steady breathing filled the air as the news played softly in the background.

******

Shego rested, floating through a lazy cloud of unconsciousness, enveloped as she was in a heavy curtain of warmth. It this latter, unfamiliar feeling that pulled and prodded, coaxing her back into waking life. Curtailing a wide yawn that cracked her jaw, she blinked herself the rest of the way out of the tendrils of dream that clung to the inside of her head.

High above, the ceiling was a strange thing, and shadows of blue flickered softly, licking at the light paint. There was a faint steady hum in the air, as unfamiliar as the rest of the room that her eyes crawled lethargically over. She took it all in and let her sleepy gaze drift, coming to rest finally on a flickering television set, far away on the opposite side of the room. The station it was tuned to, had ceased broadcasting, and it was the flicker of static that was dancing black and white with the darkened room, white noise providing the beat.

Attempting to stifle another yawn, Shego found her arms tangled in blankets, and looked down to find she was all but swaddled in soft cloth up to her neck. It was a struggle to free her, and she discovered that her body wasn't quite up to the task. The effort it took just to wriggle was monstrous, and she was totally unprepared to accept that a blanket would be getting the best of her. She willed her arms to move, but the blanket was tight against her, heavy. _Get off of me! _She grit out in frustration.

Her struggles did not go unnoticed. The space behind her shifted, and the wall of warmth at her back suddenly eclipsed the problem she was having with her makeshift bonds. Shego realized then that wherever she was, she wasn't alone. To make matters worse, she couldn't even turn her head due to the confining material; it was not a good feeling. Capping it off, she'd reached for the one constant in her life that she could rely on to never fail her; instinctively, she'd flared her power, knowing that even hampered, she was on the far side of helpless.

Nothing. No fire, no heat and no Green…

Bound and now feeling helpless for the first time in a really long time, Shego felt something tearing at her throat; it burned and wracked at her. A scream of frustration split her lips, weaker than she thought, but still loud to her ears. Could this be anymore humiliating?

******

Kim woke to the cat thrashing in her arms. Looking down, she noticed the struggling cat and frowned. She knew the poor thing was terrified, having woken in an unfamiliar place wrapped in a towel.

_Poor thing_, she thought as she gently brought her hands around to unwrap the towel.

A soft, weak mew proved how terrified the cat was and Kim felt her heart break at the frightened sound.

"Shh, it's okay, sweetie. Let me help you," she whispered while she pulled the towel away.

The cat seemed to stiffen at the sound of her voice, so Kim took the opportunity to free her all the way. Once the towel was off the cat, the red-head shifted around and peered into the wide green eyes of her visitor.

A feeling of familiarity settled over the college student but she shook it off and smiled. "Hey, sweetie. Are you doing any better? You had me a little scared earlier." The cat just continued to stare at her. "Are you hungry? I'm sure I've got some chicken in the fridge you can eat." She slowly picked the still cat up and walked into the kitchen.

As she opened the refrigerator she looked down at the cat and smiled. "You sure are a quiet thing, aren't you?"

And, as if on cue, the cat started mewing and struggling in her arms again, seemingly frantic to escape her grasp.

"Hey," Kim said in alarm. "Calm down, Kitty. It'll be okay!"

The cat continued to struggle. And suddenly, the claws came out.

The cat's right paw lashed out and caught Kim across the arm. The woman gave a yelp of surprise and pain and dropped the cat, which landed on her feet and darted between Kim's legs and back into the den.

"Ow," Kim muttered, eyeing the four bleeding scratches on her arm. She grabbed a paper towel and dabbed it on the cuts, wiping away the blood. "Okay," she said as she threw the bloodied paper towel in the trashcan. "I've got a cat to calm down."

******

For the first time since waking, the super-powered thief was forced to confront a vital bit of information. The niggling thing in the back of her head telling her things weren't quite status-quo had been shoved violently to the forefront with little to no regard for her sanity. And it flagged her will momentarily, long enough for her to be subdued.

The sight of her nemesis looming over her so suddenly had shocked Shego into silence, as she locked onto the little fact that Princess's face had dwarfed her own, as the red head towered high above, a warped sense of perspective.

Initially, the green skinned woman thought maybe someone had drugged her, that, or she was having one hell of a flash back. In her disoriented state, the thief allowed the hallucinatory giantess to manhandle her, at least until she could regain her equilibrium, and snatch back the scraps of wit that had so suddenly fled.

Then, she saw it, a perfect chance to get away, put some distance between her and the overgrown phantasm. A blast of cold air stirred her senses, and Shego struck out wildly, attempting to free herself from a soft but firm hold.

Which is what brought her into the current predicament that of having taken cover behind an inordinately large sofa. This was wrong, all of it. She fought against the growing impulse to cry out in frustration. There was just too many things wrong. Her perceptions were shot, distance, and perspective…everything blown way out of proportion. And it didn't end there. Her sense of touch was skewed; her hearing and sense of smell were being constantly bombarded, battered by a dozen things at once. God, she was in some kind of nightmare, and it was washing over her in hyper-color.

The rush only made her dizzy, compounding the headache that she felt knocking behind her eyes. Footsteps on the carpet, great muffled thundering things, told her the apparition was coming for her. Shego's stomach clenched and she fought a losing battle to keep the vertigo at bay. Her throat hitched twice, the sharp tang of bile hot on her tongue.

*******

The soft gagging sound alerted Kim to the cat's hiding place. And the gagging sound also alerted Kim to the cat's predicament.

"Oh, shit," the young woman muttered as she hurried over to behind the sofa. The cat was huddled there; eyes wide at first but quickly squeezing shut as its whole body lurched in an effort to try and keep down what little she had sloshing in her stomach.

Kim squatted close to the cat and laid a gentle but cautious hand on its back. "Sweetie," she said softly. "You've gotten yourself so worked up that you're sick."

The cat seemed to swallow and slowly get a hold of itself. But, under the soft fur, its muscles bunched up, and its whole body locked up at her touch.

"You don't have to be afraid of me," Kim said as she started to stroke the black fur under her fingers. "I won't hurt you. I promise. I'm just trying to help." She adjusted her position so she was sitting down beside the cat now.

Suddenly, the cat turned to her, the green eyes flashing with something akin to anger. And a low growl rumbled within the feline's throat.

"Whoa," Kim said jerking her hand back and scooting back on her butt away from the cat. "No need to get all touchy. I'm sorry if I offended you."

_Oh, God._ The red-head thought with a groan. _I'm apologizing to a cat._

Kim held up her hands, as if to show that she wouldn't hurt the cat. "See," she said calmly. "Look, I won't hurt you."

Another growl came from the cat, a prickly warning toward the girl.

"Goodness, Kitty. You've got a temper." Kim smiled at the cat. "You remind me of--," she trailed off as her chest tightened and her eyes closed. "But she's dead," she muttered almost too soft to hear, as if reminding herself. Her hands dropped to her lap, and her shoulders slumped. "Shego's dead." And without Kim's permission, a lone tear fell down her cheek and hit her thigh with a faint plop.

Kim mentally shifted gears away to the trouble at hand, easing the pressure in her chest in the process. The red headed college student wiped absently at her cheek, blinking her eyes clear. "Now, what am I going to do with you, hmm?"

The black cat continued to stare fixedly at Kim, though the rumble in its chest slowly quieted just before it plopped back on its haunches, unintentionally mirroring the redhead. There was a moment of stillness, where the two regarded one another.

Then the cat turned its head, almost as if it was dismissing Kim entirely. It rose up and made as if to pad away, but came up short. The cat wobbled a moment then froze as it hacked a few more times, proceeding to personalize the carpet with a weak splash of cat puke.

*******

From the way her insides were twisting, Shego had little trouble coming to the realization that she wasn't just having a bad dream. This image of pumpkin that towered over her was as real as the bile that burned her throat. Something was terribly wrong here, and the moment Kim uttered the words, things started falling into place for the thief turned cat. "_Shego's dead_," a phrase she wanted to undo the moment they vibrated in the air, spoken with resignation, and a claustrophobic sense of finality. It was a tone that Shego never thought she'd hear from the hero.

And yet, even as distant memories drifted through her mind, indistinct but slowly clearing, the black cat understood one simple truth, Shego was not dead. Not when she was right here, feeling like shit.

Stepping away from the warm puddle, she stretched, trying to work out the soreness, the weakness she felt. It had been obvious from the moment she'd first regained consciousness out on the side of the road, miles away from Kim's apartment, the body she'd woken in was not her old self, but neither did it feel like someone else's. It was small, and constricting, and unbearably weak, but she still felt like Shego, and that's why her mind had refused to make any real connection with the changes at first.

But, in the face of a Giant Kim Possible, and appropriately super-sized living accommodations, Shego relinquished the point. Glancing down at herself for the first time, she wasn't surprised to find that her mental checklist wasn't far off. Her tiny body was skinny, undernourished, and her black fur was matted to some degree. It wasn't much consolation, but she decided that she looked worse off than she felt. Her stomach took that moment to notify her of its currently empty condition.

Well, if she was going to be doing this once again as a cat, Shego saw no reason not to play it to the hilt. Kim was still sitting on her duff, so the black cat drew herself up as much as her body would allow, and fixed the red head with a look that she assumed would send off waves of 'I'm ready to eat now' vibes.

*******

Kim sighed as she looked at the wet puddle of cat puke. "Lovely," she muttered. "Something to make my day even better." Her own stomach tried to rebel at the sickening smell that came of the puddle but she pushed her lunch back down with a swallow. _Don't puke. Don't puke._

Movement from the cat made her look over and another sigh escaped her lips. "You're hungry, aren't you?" the hero said. She shook her head. "Okay, give me a second to clean this shit up and I'll feed you that chicken I was telling you about." The cat's eyes seemed to widen but Kim didn't really make note of it, she was too busy gathering paper towels, a bottle of Resolve, and a trash bag.

"At this rate, I'm going to go through a whole roll of paper towels before the week is up." She knelt down and started cleaning up the mess. It wasn't much but it was enough to be unpleasant. Then again, when was cleaning this kind of thing ever a fun?

As she finished up, Kim glanced over at the cat, which seemed to be studying her rather intently. Kim raised an eyebrow at the feline. "Yes?" she said sarcastically. "May I help? I'm a little busy at the moment, cleaning up your puke I might add, so if you are waiting on food, well, you'll have to wait a little longer. So sorry, your majesty."

And the cat continued to stare, green slit eyes never wavering.

The mess finally cleaned up, Kim stood, closing the trash bag on her way up. "Now, let me throw this outside and then we'll get you some food. I don't want this to stink up the apartment. Lord knows I want this smell to follow me around."

Kim gave an absent minded pat on the cat's head and walked outside, closing the door softly behind her, while those tiny eyes dogged her every step.

*******

Shego didn't have long to wait before Kimmie returned from taking out the trash, and after the red head put away her cleaning supplies, she'd fixed them both a little something to eat.

Honestly, the woman-turned kitten couldn't remember the last time she'd been so voraciously hungry, and tore into her meal, barely even caring that she'd been reduced to eating in such a manner. Not that anyone was around to point that tidbit out, well besides princess. And that hardly counted, because the red head had only appeared slightly bemused at the time, watching Shego out of the corner of one eye while she herself tore into a sandwich she'd haphazardly slapped together.

When the two of them had finished eating, Shego had made it plain she'd needed a second helping; the cat took it upon herself to check out Kimmie's place. She'd actually been here before, about a year ago.

It had been back when Kim's globetrotting had ground to a halt, almost out of nowhere. At the time, Shego had already been pretty much out of the public eye ever since the incident with the Lowardians. Being hailed as a world savior had put a bit of a dampener on her mood for a few months, not only hers, but Drakken's as well.

The blue dork decided to try and go legit, using his newfound public acceptance as a stepping stone to actually get into radio as he'd been telling his mother for ages. In Shego's opinion, it had been a venture doomed from the get-go, and Dr. D hadn't failed to disappoint. Only, this time, he let his mother know of his break with the radio station, at Shego's suggestion, just so the old woman would stop asking the thief every time she called, when she could hear her Drewbie on the Air again.

That didn't stop the crazy old lady from calling of course, since then she was always worried after Dr. D's job hunting. Shego had to replace three cordless handsets out of sheer frustration with the nosy old bat. Not to mention that the whole time her employer was disc-jockeying it up, he'd never gotten around to terminating her contract. While that had been a trifle annoying, since she wasn't free to go looking for a job elsewhere, she was still getting paid by direct deposit, mostly for sitting around on her ass all day long. It had been a good gig while it lasted.

But, with Drakken out of the picture, and between Señor Senior, Sr.'s stroke, and Monkey Fist off somewhere with DNAmy, waxing poetic, there was little in the way of villainy on a global scale for nearly a year. So it was small wonder that Kim Possible's absence from the stage was hardly missed. Shego had been too busy doing nothing to really think about it, and the few times the red headed hero had impinged on her thoughts, were also the times that Drakken's mother chose to reach out and touch someone.

Then, Drakken got into a little tussle with the FCC, and not wanting to further damage his current reputation, he bowed out, complaining to Shego when he told her the news about how if this had been the good ol' days, he'd have already been plotting his revenge. This in turn got her thinking about checking up on a certain Kimberly Possible, and how the mint-tinged thief found out that her Kimmie was no longer living in Middleton, having left earlier that year to go off to college.

Deciding a road trip was in order, if only to help alleviate some of her boredom, Shego took one of Drakken's old hovercrafts for a cross country spin. And like that, she'd gone off to Essex County, Massachusetts to do a little pumpkin hunting.

What she'd found had surprised the thief, to say the least. The young woman she tracked around the old university campus was a far cry from the brash and confident hero she expected to see. For almost an entire day, Shego watched silently from above while hovering in stealth mode, as a morose red head trudged from class to class, eventually leaving the campus as the sun dipped below the horizon.

It wasn't the first time that Shego had tailed Kim while the girl was at school, but this was hardly Middleton High, and Princess was by no means acting like her usual self. In fact, if the thief had been pressed to describe the formerly outgoing and take charge red head, she might admitted to making a mistake and had been following the wrong person. Everything about princess screamed depression and melancholy. It was enough to almost make Shego ill. Where was the fire, hell, where was Kimmie's life?

Maybe she'd just found out that ugly rat-thing died…or she'd finally broken up with her lame-o boyfriend, Stoppable. Shego left, flying back home after making sure she knew where Kim was living. She'd only been meaning to make sure the redhead hadn't gone off and died on some stupid save-the-world trip. But, now there were questions, more questions than she had easy answers to.

Of course, there was nothing preventing her from making her trip a little more personal, and asking pumpkin face to face, but Shego had been a little wierded out by the sudden one-eighty Kim had taken, and wanted time to make sure nothing shady was going on, especially if she didn't know about it first.

A few hours later found the thief in Middleton, wondering how she was going to go about getting the information she wanted. Assuming of course, that someone in the city even knew why the redhead was acting so contrary to the young woman she'd butted heads with so often in the past.

Debating the issue with herself on the flight over, Shego had decided to pay a little unobtrusive visit to Kimmie's folks, hang around for a while and see what was what, preferably using the Hovercraft's audio pickups in stealth mode. While she was no stranger, and had even stayed at the Possible residence for more than a couple of days, she still felt remnants of her stint as Miss Go, cropping up at inopportune times. It was a private source of acute embarrassment for the green-hued woman. She preferred to be reminded of it as little as she could.

It hadn't even taken ten minutes of eavesdropping, for the comet-enhanced woman to start piecing together Kim's puzzle.

*******

Kim watched with a grin as the cat wandered away from her bowl, probably to explore Kim's tiny apartment. Not that there was much to see. She glanced down at her paper plate and the remnants of her sandwich. _That_ definitely hadn't been much. Her stomach growled as if protesting it's still relatively empty state.

"Yeah, yeah," Kim muttered. "I hear ya. Not much I can do about it but I do hear ya." She sighed and stood up, throwing her plate away and opening the refrigerator once more. "I need to go shopping." Inside the fridge was a small amount of chicken left for the cat, a carton of orange juice, some sliced ham, mayo, and something that resembled cheese, but Kim wasn't too sure of that. "I am so living the college student life. Throw in some ramen noodles and I'm set."

Her stomach spoke up again, agreeing with the idea.

"No, I refuse!" Kim said. "Ramen noodles can't be good for me." She chuckled. "But ham sandwiches totally are."

She closed the fridge and walked back into the den. She glanced around, trying to find the cat but didn't see her. She was probably still sniffing around, getting familiar with her surroundings.

The student grabbed her book bag from beside the sofa she had placed there before leaving for the cemetery earlier. "Okay. Homework. Gotta do homework." She plopped down on the sofa, pulled out her books and proceeded to start doing her reading for her classes the day after tomorrow. She knew she be working late tomorrow night and wouldn't feel like doing her reading after she came home.

Right as her Archeology reading was getting interesting, her phone rang.

Giving a frustrated groan and she put her book down and walked into the kitchen, already knowing who was on the phone.

"Hey, Mom."

"Kimmie!" Her mom said, sounding happy but tired. "How's the cat?"

"Fine. I fed her some leftover chicken and now she's wandering around the apartment."

"Good. You know, you should probably take her to the vet as soon as possible. Make sure she has a clean bill of health. Worms aren't pretty to deal with."

"Yeah, that's true." Kim looked over her shoulder, her eyes searching for the cat. Not seeing her, she turned back around, her mind focusing on her mom.

"So," her mom paused.

"So?"

"When are you coming to visit?"

Kim sighed. "Mom. You know how hard it is for me to drop everything and leave. Besides, I'm busy with school or work every day of the week but Sunday. And a trip to Middleton needs to last longer than a day."

"But you have a break coming up soon, right?" Her mom protested. "Can't you come then?"

Kim closed her eyes, hating to hear the desperation in her mom's voice. "I'll see what I can do."

The college student could hear the smile in her mom's voice. "Thank you, Kimmie-cub. Everyone would love to see you."

There was a pause before Kim asked the question she asked every time they spoke. "How's Dad?"

"He's…good. He had a good day today; wasn't so down in the dumps." Her mom chuckled. "He made me put in a home video of you from grade school."

"What?" Kim felt her face flare up in a blush. "Why?"

"He misses you just like I do. So do the boys."

Kim took a deep breath and managed to keep the smile in her voice, even though her throat was tightening up from the memories flooding her brain.

It all started right after she graduated from high school. An explosion at her dad's work threw him across the lab and broke his back, leaving him paralyzed from the neck down. The whole family seemed to go through a very dark time, battling depression and fear of the future. What was going to happen now? Her dad obviously couldn't work and his worker's compensation only went so far toward paying the hospital bills.

Her mom stepped up and started working double shifts at the hospital, Kim retired from the world-saving biz and got a part-time job at some crummy fast food chain that wasn't Bueno Nacho, and Jim and Tim started helping around the house. But it wasn't enough. James had to be cared for full time.

It wasn't until Kim came home one night in July when she realized how bad everything had gotten. Her mom was sitting on the sofa in the den, sobbing into her hands while her dad just stared at his wife with a frown on his face.

"Mom? Dad? What's wrong?"

Her mom sniffed and hastily wiped her eyes. "Nothing, sweetie. Nothing at all."

Kim sat beside her mom and looked over at her dad, who still hadn't moved his wheelchair any closer to comfort his wife. "Dad? Why is Mom crying?"

Her dad looked away.

That's when it hit Kim. Her mom was completely worn out and her dad was depressed. And she had a feeling that their financial situation wasn't good; at least not like it used to be.

So, plans for college went on the back burner for Kim. She started working full time but opposite shifts as her mom so Kim could be home with her dad while her mom was at work and vice versa. Well over half the money Kim made at her job went into a special account she had set up just for the family.

Jim and Tim did what they could, but being freshmen in high school and quickly working their way to graduating early, took away most of their time. That in of itself was another worry to tack onto the camel's back. The boys were looking at a few academic scholarships, but not full rides by any stretch of the word. That the both of them were aiming to attend top notch Universities, it just wasn't something that the Possibles were going to be able to afford without taking up extra work, not without James and Anne's combined income.

Moreover, with a good chunk of the savings tied up in medical bills, there was little to go toward Kim's continued education, especially when she didn't have the prospective financial aid that her brothers were now going to be counting on.

The teen hero saw this, and made her decision. Saving the world was one thing, but family was just as important. If she could put her life at risk stopping the likes of Drakken and Dr. Dementor, then how could she do less for the sake of those close to her? For the time being, she would just have to shelf her education, at a small cost. School would always be there, but her father might not.

Her parents didn't realize that Kim actually decided not to go to college until one day in late September when her dad suddenly looked up at her as she was moving him from his wheelchair onto his bed.

"Kimmie-cub, why aren't you in school?"

Kim shrugged it off and said that he was her priority now. But he wouldn't accept that as an excuse. He even insist that she call her mom and put her on speaker so they could all 'discuss' this.

They told her that giving up her dream to take care of the family, while an honorable venture was not what they wanted for her. She argued, but they brushed her selflessness aside and eventually got their way.

She left the next fall for Miskatonic University in Massachusetts to study Archeology. Her parents paid what they could, which wasn't a whole lot. And since they couldn't afford her room and board on campus, Kim got yet another job and ended up renting a small single room apartment off campus, it wasn't much, but it was better than just a studio.

She never acted like a normal college student. She didn't beg her parents for money, she didn't party, and she had no real friends to speak of, only acquaintances. It was a lonely life, but necessary. At least, that's what she told herself every morning she woke up.

"Did he go out at all today?" Kim said, continuing the phone conversation as she moved to the table and sat down.

"We went to the park," her mom answered. "That's really the only place he likes to go. Being in the sun lifts his spirits."

Kim smiled. "How does he like his new wheelchair?"

"Loves it," her mom said with a chuckle. "Being able to move it himself makes how expensive it was all worthwhile."

Kim smiled and finished the conversation with her mom. After a long goodbye, with multiple promises to visit on her break, Kim hung up and stared at the phone. Her mom sounded good; tired but good.

"I wish I could do more to help," she said. "I still feel selfish being all the way over here and not with them."

And silence fell over the kitchen as Kim let more memories overtake her.

*******

Shego padded around the small apartment, finding it was pretty spartan; which might have surprised her two years ago, but not so much anymore. Aside from the living room, there was the small kitchen off to the side, barely divided from the living space by a formica countertop. The kitchen was simple, and aside from the small table Kim had been eating at, there was a gas range, the fridge and a microwave below the cupboards above the dividing counter.

In the living room, Kim was lounging on the sofa, talking to someone on the phone, but Shego wasn't really interested in eavesdropping just yet, so she slinked past the wood and glass entertainment stand that held Kim's TV set and an a cheap knockoff brand DVD player.

To the rear of the living room, the cat found two doors off of a small hallway, barely even deserving the name. The first door was shut tight, and there was no way she could reach the knob, even if she had a way to turn in. Sniffing in disgust, Shego flicked her tail at the door, and moved to the opposite side of the hall, to the door that was cracked open a few inches.

Nudging it with her head a few times, she managed to widen the gap enough to squeeze through.

Kimmie's bedroom.

In such a tiny apartment, she really hadn't expected much else, which meant the closed door, was probably the bathroom.

Shego sat on the carpet a little off to one side of the door, just in case Kim came looking for her and pushed the door open. She didn't particularly care to get accidentally smashed. The room, like everything else, had little in the way of furnishing. There was a small closet, a plastic clothes hamper next to it, and a cheap looking desk that might have been second hand, or from IKEA. The one thing that caught the kitten's sharp eye, however, was the bed. That alone was familiar to her. For all she could tell, it was the same one that had been in Kim's old room back in Middleton. And better yet, it was just low enough for her to climb up if she took a running start.

So she did, and clambered across the unmade blankets, making her way up toward the pillows, where she knew _it_ would be. It was too much to hope Kimmie had left her ugly plushie behind. The damned creepy thing was sitting there, smiling its twisted smile, and looking just as freaky as Shego remembered it. Those stupid Cuddle Buddies only ever reminded her of DNAmy, DNAmy and her fat face and horribly rotund body. It made her sick just thinking about the few times she'd had to work with the woman at Drakken's behest. Luckily, the blue dolt didn't seem to care to be around the geneticist any more than his comet powered assistant.

With a swipe of her paw, Shego sent the offensive thing tumbling from its perch, and batted at it until it fell off, onto a more fitting place, down on the floor back behind the headboard. Feeling a little better, and slightly smug, Shego plopped down on the pillow, stealing the dethroned Pandaroo's seat.

*******

A soft, almost unheard thud reached Kim's ear, dragging her back to the now and leaving her past where it belonged, in the past.

She blinked and looked around. "Kitty? Where are you?" She shook her head as she started toward her room, noticing her door a little more open than before. "You really need a name, cat. I can't call you Kitty the rest of your life. How boring is that?" She pushed her door open all the way and felt a grin tug at her mouth.

The cat was on her bed, or more specifically on her pillow, taking what could be best described as a cat nap. Looking, for the world, wholly content. Kim chuckled. "Maybe I'll do my reading in here. I could use some company."

Not two minutes later, Kim was lounging on her bed, her textbook in her lap, her right hand gently stroking the cat's back and her left hand turning the pages of her book when needed.

It wasn't until she finished her reading when she noticed the soft purring coming from the napping cat.

"Ah, so maybe you do like me," Kim said with a grin. She closed her book and set it on the floor, making a mental note to put it in her bag later. She continued petting the cat with a contented sigh. "I think you and I are really gonna get along, Kitty. Even if you are temperamental. But hey, who isn't these days?"

The purring got a little louder as Kim scratched under the cat's chin, causing the cat to lift her head, eyes still closed. "Maybe I'll go shopping tomorrow before I go to work and get you a brush, some toys, and some cat food. Oh, and a litter box." She frowned. "Actually, I should probably just go take care of all that. You may have to use the litter box sooner rather than later. And my carpet, no matter how ugly, is not gonna be the place for cat pee. I'd like to keep my security deposit, thank you very much."

The redhead jumped off the bed, making the cat open her eyes when the petting stopped. "Sorry, sweetie," Kim said as she pulled on some shoes. "I can't keep petting you, or I'll never get to the store. Just hang tight right here. I'll be back in no time." She glanced at the digital clock, "7:07 pm," she muttered. "Good. Not too late to have the weirdoes out."


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Kim Possible is belonging to the Disney. This is but a humble work of fan-fiction.

A few changes have been made to Chapter 1. Nothing drastic but something that will come up again. I'd re-read it. But that's just me. ^_-

A Fan-fiction by Alcandre & Six-string Samurai.

"Lingering"

Stifling a yawn, Shego sat up, arching her back in a stretch that felt delicious. For the first time in two days, she actually felt somewhat refreshed, and not completely useless. It did wonders for her that her thoughts were once again clear, save for the last vestiges of sleep.

Looking around, she noticed Kimmie was nowhere to be found. The large bed was empty, and when Shego padded across the covers, the side where pumpkin had been sleeping was already cold. The weird part of it was the ex-thief could swear that the redhead was still right there, in fact, she could still _smell_…the black kitten's eyes sharpened in realization, it seemed she hadn't quite come to grips with what her new body fully entailed.

Following the distinctive Kim-ness in the air, the kitten leapt to the floor and squeezed through the gap that had been left in the doorway. Judging by the lack of sunlight in the hall, it was still early yet, but Shego had always been one to get up with the sun. Apparently, that applied to Kimmie too.

Almost the moment she entered the hall, Shego caught a different smell, one that permeated the apartment every bit as much as the owner. If anything, it was actually more enticing at the moment. _Ah, Coffee…_

*****

Chapter 2

*****

Kim set a small bowl of the cat food she'd purchased last night out on the floor next to a dish of water, leaving both near the bottom of the counter that separated the kitchen from the living room so that it was easy to find. She'd completely forgotten to get plastic dishes, so she'd been forced to make use of an old cereal bowl that she'd brought from home, and a tiny Tupperware container to hold the water. Satisfied with her work, it would just have to do for now. Besides, food was food right? It wasn't like pets were picky. That got her thinking of Rufus, and she frowned. It had been almost a year since the last time she'd really spoken with Ron, or any of her old friends from Middleton.

Catching a glimpse of the clock above the stove, she almost dropped the bag of cat food, "Holy crap, I'm so going to be late!" Tossing the bag into a cabinet under the sink, she snagged the piece of bagel she'd been munching on, and her travel mug. Skidding across the linoleum tile, Kim reached for the coffee pot, hoping it was finished brewing. Feeling the hairs prick up on the back of her neck, Kim turned instinctively, frowning when she didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Not paying attention, she continued to pour her coffee. "Ow, shit! You've got to be kidding me," the redhead looked down at the hot stain spreading across her work shirt. This was just what she needed right now.

Setting down the overflowing mug, she spun on her heel to go grab her spare uniform. Luckily, she'd done her wash for the week, or this could've been more of a mess than just a hassle. Kim just barely missed stepping on the kitten standing in the middle of the floor.

"Ah! Don't scare me like that," she admonished, but then took a step back and gave a small grin to the cat, who was just staring at her, as cats were prone to do. "Hey, sweetie. Look, food's in the kitchen and the litter box is in the bathroom. Make yourself at home." She stepped around the cat and hurried to her room. "I gotta get to work," she said from her closet as she pulled out her shirt. She didn't stop to think that she was talking to the cat as if it were a human.

Kim turned her head to see that the cat had followed her to her bedroom door and seemed to be glaring at her. "Go ahead, you can glare all you want," she said as she threw off her ruined shirt and pulled the clean one on. "I've gotta make money somehow." Giving a wink she knelt down in front of the cat. "I'll be home by five and I'll show you the toys I bought for you last night, okay?" She gave the cat one last head rub and then darted out the door, her purse over her shoulder.

"He's gonna kill me if I'm late again," she muttered as she started her car and pulled out of the parking space. The morning news filled her car as she drove just over the speed limit to try and make it to work as close to on-time as she could.

Just as she half-dreaded, the moment she walked in the door she heard a very distinctive grunt, "You're late, Possible."

She sighed and turned to smile at Mr. Harrison, a slightly balding, but intimidating man in his own right, and the manager of Books & Things. "Yes, sir. I'm sorry."

He eyed her then gave a quick nod. "We have a shipment that came in last night. It's in the back room. Go ahead and get started, so we can start shelving before we open. We've already had a few people reserve some copies."

"Yes, sir," Kim said with a smile on her face but a glare in her mind. _Not even a 'good morning'_ she thought as she began her work day. _God, is it time to go home yet?_

*****

Shego waited until Kim left before she let her laughter get the better of her, and flopped on her back, cracking up at the mental image of Kimmie dribbling coffee all down the front of her shirt. It was hilarious. Of course, it would have been more satisfying had Shego been able to actually produce a laugh. The best she could manage was a sort of mild hacking noise that only reminded her of that stupid dog on old reruns of the Wacky Races cartoon. She had to force herself to stop after a few seconds because it felt like she was going to gag.

Oh, what the hell was she supposed to do to keep herself busy? Shego eyed the couch; Kim _had_ told her to make herself at home. Hopping up after two attempts, she searched the cushions for the TV remote. Hah, gotcha, the black kitten crowed to herself in victory as she pounced on the remote which was half-sticking out from under a fuzzy throw-pillow. Eventually, she managed to get the angle right and mash the power button with her paw to get the set to turn on.

The set snapped on, tuned to a morning talk show. Meh, she decided, it was better than nothing. Besides, the channel changing buttons were too close together and Shego found she kept hitting the volume control on accident at the same time, making it almost impossible to get the channel she wanted.

That held her attention for about an hour, before her stomach started gurgling.

The former human glared daggers at the so called food, that pumpkin had thoughtfully provided for her. She didn't even have to get close to know the stuff reeked, and looked as dry as two-day old bread. Plus it was shaped in little X's and O's. What, did they think cats were going to play tic-tac-toe with this crap? Almost against her will, she stuck her tongue out and gave one piece a tiny lick. _Eugh, it tastes like ass_, she spat and rubbed at her tongue with a paw, before realizing she was just sticking fur in her mouth, and she didn't taste much better than the supposed cat food.

She was going to have to figure out a way to get Kimmie to feed her better food, like more of that chicken from last night. Shego stared up at the refrigerator. _Damn, there's no way I can get in there, not like this anyway_. It didn't help that she could still clearly smell the coffee still in the pot by the sink. But, there was no way she was going to drink any of that in this tiny body. Who knew what it would do to her cat physiology. Naturally, it still smelled delicious, if not a tad strong. The only other thing that really soured her stomach to it was the fact that her little stroll around Kim's pad had more or less confirmed that the girl was poorer than dirt right now. This, in turn, meant that the black gold was probably of the instant variety, and not really Shego's thing.

Thinking about the coffee got Shego to recalling the mess Kim had made, and more importantly, the food she'd had in her hands at the time. Narrowing her eyes, the kitten hopped up on the chair and then onto the dining table. _Score_, she thought, finding a half-full bag of bagels that the redhead had forgotten to put away in her rush to get to work. _Cinnamon Raisin, huh...well, beggars can't be choosers, and this sure beats that crap Kimmie oh so generously provided for me._

_Speaking of Kimmie_, she mused as she tore into the bag, dragging out her filched prize. _What kind of name is Sweetie, for a cat? It doesn't even fit me…at least the names I come up with have a reason behind them. Could be worse I guess, at least she isn't calling me Blackie…God, that's just as bad as Greenie, or Green bean, or Jolly Green Giant…stupid brats. Or the Grinch…I really hate that one._

*****

It was four-thirty. The best part of any work day. At least it was for someone who was scheduled 'til then. Kim grinned as she clocked out. She was going home. The day had progressed at an easy pace, despite her rather rough start that morning.

"Bye, Kim," the blonde teenager behind the counter said to her.

"Bye, Catie. See you Saturday." Waving, Kim left Books & Things with a sigh of relief. Each work day was the same. She would go in, dreading work, and leave later that afternoon, ready to be at home by herself. But, it paid the bills, sort of.

The drive home was just as uneventful as the drive to work, only at a more legal pace. By four-fifty she was walking past the steps in front of her apartment door. Yes, it was good to be home.

She should have expected not to be greeted at the door by her new 'roommate'. Still, it was a little disappointing. An empty apartment might be nice for a while but a little company could heal any heart. Though, if said company refused to interact with you, it wasn't much of a change.

"Kitty?" Kim called as she slipped off her shoes and set down her purse. "God, I need a name for this cat," she muttered as she walked into the kitchen, and stopped dead in her tracks.

On the table were the remains of a formerly full bag of bagels. It was laying there torn open, and only three were left in the bag. A trail of crumbs from the missing bagels littered the table and floor. Kim knew for a fact that she'd only eaten one bagel that morning because she'd bought them last night from the supermarket.

A soft mew came from underneath the table, causing Kim to roll her eyes and bend down. "Let me guess," she said when she saw the black cat laying there, looking like Hell. The pained expression on her face and the throw up next to her gave away what was bothering the cat. "You decided you didn't like the cat food I provided so you went for something better." She got down on her knees and gently pulled the cat out. Cradling her in her arms she eyed the vomit coloring her carpet. "Wonderful," she said with a sigh. "I so enjoy cleaning up cat puke."

Another mew escaped the cat's throat and Kim glanced down at her. If the cat were human, the student knew she would be clutching her stomach right about now.

"Okay, Cat. You've learned your lesson. And so have I." The red-head made her way to the sofa and sat down, the cat still in her arms. "You can't eat bagels, Cinnamon Raisin to be precise, and I know you don't like regular cat food. Well, you ate the chicken last night so maybe we can work out a compromise."

She laid the cat on the sofa and stood up. "Now, excuse me as I go and clean up what you left for me as a welcome home gift." She felt a small frown touch her lips as she watched the cat. "I'm sorry you feel bad, sweetie. When you start to feel better I'll get you some more chicken out of the fridge."

If anything, the thought of more food set Shego's stomach clenching again. She squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the nausea to pass. Oh, the bagels had tasted so good, compared to that kitty-mix shit, that she'd gone a little overboard, and before she knew it, half the bag was gone. Her indulgence had required a little trip to the ladies room, and she'd thought everything would be fine after that.

Unfortunately, around half an hour before Kimmie came back from work, _revenge of the bagel part two_ struck, and laid her low. It was damn embarrassing, and all she wanted to do was crawl into a hole, or take a bath, maybe both.

For now though, lying on the couch was as good as anything else. Initially, when Kimmie had picked her up, the act of being hauled bodily from one place to another had sent off waves of vertigo, but she found that once she was back on something solid, she felt worlds better. Flopping there, feeling lousy, Shego watched as Kim cleaned up yet another of her messes. It was fast becoming a theme, one that the kitten was not at all comfortable with for various inexplicable reasons.

Rolling over on her side to take the pressure off her stomach, she waited for Kim to finish up, and to hopefully change out of her work clothes. She'd seen the embroidered logo on the beige shirt, "Books & Things," so she imagined it was either a used bookstore or one of the local retail chains. Either way, Pumpkin didn't smell all fresh and clean, that's for sure. That probably meant that she wasn't manning the tills, as such didn't require anything more strenuous than standing in one spot all day, or maybe helping a customer find something. What else did they do at bookstores; inventory team, stock room? It was a morning shift, so Shego put her bet on Stockroom…oh, that was too rich. Princess working as a Stock boy; she could imagine it now.

_I'm glad I remembered to turn off the TV before she got back; that might have been a little too much of a slip up. It's too bad about the bagel bits getting all over the place, but it's just too freakin' hard to try and clean up after myself without it sticking to my fur. I'll dunk my head in the toilet first, before I ever try and lick myself clean. I'm all for personal hygiene, but that's taking it a step too far._

After cleaning up the mess on and under the table, Kim took one more look at the cat and after seeing her half asleep, headed to the bathroom to take a quick shower. She always felt grungy after work but knew that it could be worse. She could work at a fast food restaurant and smell like grease. And she vowed never to do that again.

As the hot water ran down her body, Kim sighed and leaned against the shower wall. She was tired, sore, and well, mentally tired as well. Her life sucked, to put it plainly. Her dad was disabled, her mom was working herself to exhaustion, and Kim wasn't far behind. She definitely wasn't where she expected to be when she graduated high school.

A strong wave of depression hit the college student. She hated the way her life was going. She was lonely, not that she would ever admit it aloud to anyone. She missed her family but knew that to get the education she wanted…needed, she had to live across the country from them.

She slid down the shower wall and let the depression wash over her; allowing herself to cry as the exhaustion and heartache took control. Salt tears mixed with rapidly cooling water as the girl who could do anything sobbed into her hands.

Twenty minutes later, Kim had pulled herself together and exited the bathroom in her pajamas. She gave a small smile to the cat lounging on the sofa, eyes wide and staring at her.

"Time to relax, cat. Let's see what's on the tube, huh? Then maybe later we'll both feel like eating." She picked up the remote, absently noticing the odd placement of it on the sofa and turned on the television and started to rapidly go through the channels, trying to find something that would hold her attention long enough for her to relax. Fifteen minutes of channel surfing eventually paid off.

_Alien_ was on, a movie she had seen many times before but loved every time she watched it. And about half-way through the movie, inspiration stuck.

"Ripley!" She said loudly, startling the cat, which was lying beside her, previously content as could be. She grinned and pulled the cat into her lap. "Your name is Ripley! It's perfect! She's strong, awesome, and kicks butt! And she also risks her life to save a cat. Wonderful!" Kim gave the newly dubbed Ripley a kiss on the head and then returned to the movie, a grin planted firmly on her face.

Shego fought to calm herself down. _You almost gave me a heart-attack, screaming like that, pumpkin! Don't do stuff like that. You're ruining a perfectly good classic, thank you very much. I mean, we haven't gotten to the chest-burster scene yet, but this is all about the build-up._ Then it clicked, what Kim was saying to her. _Ripley, huh. Well, that's loads better than that stupid Sweetie moniker. I can deal with that. At least it's a kick-ass name. Don't think I wouldn't stick you with these sharp little claws if you tried to call me Jones, or Jonesy, that just wouldn't fly, Kimmie._

Then, the redhead surprised her further by picking her up and giving her a big wet kiss; on Shego's forehead. But still…it wasn't expected. Shego hadn't even had a bath yet. Luckily, Kim set her down before she could embarrass the kitten further, yes, right onto her lap. _Yep, not awkward, not one bit._ Shego, or rather, the newly dubbed Ripley, looked up at a happily grinning Kim Possible. It was a self-satisfied smile, but even a cat could see that it didn't quite reach the corners of the redhead's lips. It wasn't a weak smile, nor was it the plastic smile that she'd seen on a dozen faces, stuck in their daily routines. No, this was more bothersome, it was the kind that was hiding something.

It didn't hurt that, like her sense of smell, her hearing was easily several times stronger than before. She'd heard Kim sobbing in the bathroom, and it had bothered her. And it wasn't just because the cat felt a niggling amount of gratitude and debt toward the young woman, for taking her in, even unknowingly. _You and I may not always have seen eye to eye, princess, but I respected you more than anyone else, back then. You always gave me a good run for my money…honestly, I have no idea how I got all the way here, much less as a cat._ _But, for what it's worth, I'm just glad I didn't end up back at Dr. D's. I think he's allergic to dander anyway._

The black kitten rested her chin atop her paws on Kim's thigh, returning her attention to the movie just as it got to the best part. _Kill it! Kill it now, while it's still a baby! No, you're letting it get away!_

They sat there like that for the rest of the movie, and Shego didn't even mind all that much when Kim's fingers found their way down to scratch at the base of her neck, and around her ears. It felt kind of like a strong massage actually.

Eventually the movie ended as it always did, with Ripley and Jonesy getting away. And of course, like always, Kim wanted to watch the sequel right away. But after glancing at the clock, she knew that even if the movie was available she wouldn't have the time.

It was just a little bit before eight o'clock, and she was already feeling tired. Well, more like exhausted. With an 8 AM class tomorrow morning, it pretty much nixed all plans not involving a pillow and her head meeting said pillow.

She looked down at Ripley and smiled. "Did you like the movie?" she asked, causing the cat to lift its head and blink. "Yeah, it's one of my favorites." She sighed and gently moved the cat off her lap and onto the sofa. "I don't know if you're hungry again but I'll put some that chicken out just in case. It'll be there all night if you want it." She stood up and stretched. "You're on your own this time though. It's getting late and I still have a few pages of a reading assignment to catch up on before class tomorrow. Don't have much of an appetite right now anyway," she added under her breath.

But, admittedly, she did feel some of the day's stress had lifted. It looked like Pet Therapy just might work wonders for her. It's amazing what a few hours of simply petting a cat will do for one's state of mind.

Scratching Ripley under the chin, she knelt down in front of the sofa. "Thanks, Ripley. You've been a big help tonight. After I put the food out, I'm going to sit in bed and hit the books for a bit before I turn in. You're more than welcome to join me again." And with that she stood up and went to the kitchen.

Forty minutes later, Kim finally put her book down, and got under the covers, with Ripley having joined her on the bed sometime during the last few chapters. The cat opened one eye when the mattress moved but seemed to deem Kim as nothing to worry about and closed the eye again.

"Early morning classes suck," Kim muttered as she set her alarm. Then turning on her side to face the cat, she closed her eyes, preparing to sleep. "Night, Ripley. Sleep tight."

Silence filled the room for all of two minutes until…

"I really need to take you to the vet tomorrow after my last class." And then the college student was asleep, her breathing deep and relaxed.

The dream started off pretty normal; it was a few weeks after her graduation, and Kim was at the mall with Monique, just hanging out and having a good time. In the back of her mind, however, she knew something bad was about to happen. Somehow it was important, something big.

_Beep-beep be-beep_, her Kimmunicator went off; the tone seeming louder, more urgent than usual.

"Kim." It was her mom and there was a strange hitch in her voice.

"Mom? What's wrong?"

A choking noise came from the device before her mom was able to speak. "It's your dad." She paused. "He's…honey; there's been an accident, at his lab."

Time ground to a halt. Every beat of her heart, every breath she took, and every second ticking by on some unseen clock, echoed thunderously in her ears. Then the darkness came, settling over her like a shroud. She couldn't see a thing, but she could still hear.

Kim heard her mom continue to speak in that halting choked up way, "He was caught in an explosion. They--they don't know if--" she stopped, unable to continue.

Unknowingly, tears were falling down Kim's face in streams. She couldn't get herself to breathe, couldn't speak, much less think past the fact that her dad was more than likely dead.

_No._ She wanted to shout. _No! It's not right! Why not me? I'm the one that is around explosions every day! Why not me!?! _

Suddenly a loud bang filled the air and light flashed behind her. She was flung forward with a force so great that it felt like she was flying. That is until she hit the far wall with a loud and painful thud. Pain lanced through her body and she felt her throat unlock, her ability to speak come flooding back. But, for her there were no words, only pain and fear, a choking thing so strong it ripped from her throat in a never ending scream. Loud and long, it welled up from her core, pain that had been eating at her heart, crippling her will for nearly three years.

*****

Strangely, it wasn't the ear-splitting scream that woke Shego first, but a strong sense of wrongness, a prickly feeling that ran icicles up and down her back. She cracked open one green eye, zeroing in on the source of her anxiety with laser precision.

Skin flushed, and dark locks plastered to her forehead with sleep-sweat, Kimmie was muttering something, too low for even the kitten to make out. Belly crawling across the comforter, Shego paused in her approach when the redhead seemed to constrict in on herself and roll over, arms plopping just shy of squashing the cat had she continued. Once she was sure that Kim wasn't going to be making any more big movements, she began crawling again, until she was almost nose to nose with pumpkin.

At that point, even Shego wasn't quite sure what she was intending to do, all she knew was that Kimmie was continuing to beat herself up over something obviously beyond her ability to control. And it bothered the thief, far more than she would have believed it should have, in the past. Maybe it was because she'd died. Or it could be tied to the fact that Shego had been given a second chance at life.

Whatever the reason, there was a capacity within her that cared for the younger woman, perhaps as the younger sister she'd never had as the lone girl in a house of brothers. And it wasn't like she and Kim hadn't helped each other out in the past. There'd been plenty of times when the redhead had pulled her ass from the fire. Probably about the same amount as Shego had made allowances for the young hero. Though despite that, they'd hardly been friends, well, excepting the whole Attitudinator fiasco with Electronique. _Miss Go_ indeed…

Kim took that moment to cry out loudly in her sleep, flinging her arms up protectively across her face, knocking the kitten for a loop.

Groggy and head spinning, Shego rolled back to sitting, having been introduced painfully to the headboard. Her ears were ringing from Kim's vocal stunt, and the impromptu game of ping-pong her kitty brain had played on the insides of her skull. _Guh, still got that right hook I see, princess._

Clearing her head with a few shakes, she plopped back down on the pillow just above Kim's head, and away from the flying fists of fury. Venting seemed to have calmed the redhead down, and Shego watched over her warily, as Kimmie's breathing slowed and she eased back into a less fitful sleep. It was a long vigil, and morning couldn't come soon enough.

Kim woke up with "Total Eclipse of the Heart" blaring from her alarm. Without even opening her eyes she threw her arm over and shut it off, groaning. Not only did she have to get up after a horrible night of tossing and turning, but now that song was going to be stuck in her head for the rest of the day.

_Forever's gonna start tonight._

"Damn," she mumbled as she slowly sat up, her throat sore, her head pounding, and her eyes hurting. She brought her fists up to her eyes, rubbing in the hopes of relieving that 'cried all night' feeling. "Another nightmare. Wonderful." She scratched her head and stretched. It was weird, though. Last night's nightmare didn't seem as long and terrifying as usual.

It seemed that at least once a week some sort of nightmare plagued her sleep; be it about her family, her dad, or even a mission gone wrong; last night being no exception.

A soft questioning mew alerted her to the small warm body that had been curled up on her pillow. Ripley was now sitting next to her, her green eyes looking up at Kim.

"Hey, Ripley," Kim said, giving the cat a few strokes on the back. "Did you sleep with me all night?" Ripley blinked up at her. "Well, thank you. Maybe you helped me a little."

After petting the cat for a few more seconds, Kim swung her legs over the side of the bed. "Okay, gotta get ready for class. At least it's Friday. One more day after this until I get a day off." She shuffled to the bathroom, rubbing her eyes again, hoping that the shower would help wake her up. "Maybe I'll take a nap when I get home." But then she sighed. "No, can't do that. Ripley's gotta go to the vet." She looked over her shoulder at the cat still sitting on the bed. "You better be glad I like you, cat. I don't fork out money for just anybody." And she closed to bathroom door, missing the scowl the cat seemed to throw her way.

_Ripley's gotta go the vet…my ass!_ Shego sat and scowled, fuming silently to herself while the redhead flitted between the bathroom and the bedroom, getting ready for the day. _I get what you think you're doing, princess. But, there are a few lines here that I'm not willing to let you cross; or have someone else cross for you. Don't you be getting any crazy ideas in that lil pumpkin head of yours. A check-up, fine, I'll deal with it._ She flexed her front paws slightly, unsheathing tiny, but needle-sharp claws. T_ouch these babies…nothing doing_.

Shego paused in her mental ranting, as her thoughts turned unwillingly to the dog she'd had growing up. It'd had actually been her brother's dog, but she'd ended up having to take it for walks, and clean up after the little beast more often than not, since her siblings had wanted a puppy, but not any of the actual responsibility. Frankly, that sentiment had proved awfully prophetic, in her opinion. And it said a mouthful about her older brothers and their 'calling' as superheroes. But, that was beside the point.

No, a horrible thought had occurred to her, coupled with the memory. The 'family pet,' a dachshund named Oscar, had been a tad on the promiscuous side, and the neighbors had filed a petition with the housing association, not a very powerful organization back then, but with enough signatures…well, in the end, Shego's parents had agreed to have Oscar fixed, in return for allowing a few extra, pet friendly, modifications on the house. And they arranged to keep the tree in the back yard, which for some idiotic reason, the next door neighbors found an eye sore and had been constantly threatening to have the property rezoned, and get torn down.

Long story short…

_Oh, shit! What if she tries to get me spayed? I swear I'll rain holy-hell down upon this apartment! I'll get you evicted so fast, your head'll spin. I promise you that pumpkin…believe me._

So, Shego waited, far too anxious for her own taste. The day stretched on for hours, and every tick of the second hand on the clock in the living room was a torture of her own making, as the moment Kim would walk back in through that door drew closer.

****

A few hours later Kim slowly trudged into the apartment, Ripley in her arms with a brand new green collar on her neck. A round silver tag hung from the collar proudly displaying her name and address.

"Well, you're healthy. That's good, right?" Kim said as she bent down to put Ripley on the floor. "And you were very good. Except for the little fiasco about getting you spayed."

She grinned, remembering the cat's wide eyes when the veterinarian had mentioned getting the black cat 'fixed'. Like a switch being flipped, all hell had broken loose. Ripley had torn into the doctor's lab coat the moment the words had been uttered. Hissing and spitting, it had been like watching a black whirlwind of claws and pointy kitty fangs. Eventually, Kim managed to get her settled down and told the shaking man that spaying wasn't going to happen. The doctor just nodded, as Kim gathered her things and left with Ripley.

"Hmm, I like it. Green looks good on you," Kim brushed the collar, letting the kitten go to have free reign of the apartment.

The college student walked into the kitchen, still humming "Total Eclipse of the Heart" under her breath while she looked for something to put together for supper. It was looking like another sandwich night. "Damn song," she muttered, pulling out the ham and mayo. "It'll stay in your head for the longest time."

She fed a waiting Ripley the last of the chicken and sat down to eat as well. Chewing was the only thing heard for a while since Kim was lost in her thoughts about her day. She had a test coming up Monday in Chemistry and a World Literature paper due next Friday. Not to mention all the reading she had to do for her other classes. Ugh, why did College have to suck so much more than High School?

She dug into her sandwich without really tasting it, making a mental note to go grocery shopping on her next day off. She glanced at her work schedule that she'd scribbled on a sticky note on the calendar by the wall next to the fridge. Had to be Sunday, huh? Super.

The table shaking brought her out of her thoughts. She looked up and her eyes widened when she saw Ripley sitting on the table right in across from her, tearing at the last bit of chicken. Eventually, the kitten realized it was being watched, and stopped eating. Leaning forward to rest its head atop its paws, the black cat stared right at the student, wholly ignoring the chicken in favor of locking bright green eyes with Kim's own. It was totally off putting.

"Ripley!" she said harshly, as she was hit with a bout of self-consciousness. "Get down! Cats aren't allowed on the table." She gently, but firmly, pushed the cat off, all the while making sure her pet was fine when she hit the ground.

And when Ripley did hit the ground, Kim could have sworn that the glare the cat shot her struck an all too familiar chord, but brushed it off almost as soon as the feeling of déjà vu hit. Shaking her head, she ran a hand through her hair and turned her own attention back to finishing the sandwich on her plate.

For her part, Shego supposed she really couldn't fault Kimmie for shooing a cat off of the dining table. Where the positions reversed, she might very well have done the same thing. The difference was, if she'd done it, there would have been the faint, but unmistakable scent of singed fur hanging in the air.

Of course, that held no bearing on the mild tingle of resentment that snuck up, and slipped a shiv in her ribs. It felt like she was being discounted, and that did not sit well with the former quasi-evil assistant. It was one thing if Kimmie was ignoring her in favor of pressing matters, but getting brushed aside was something else altogether. It wasn't Shego's fault that she couldn't even see the top of the table if she tried to be nice and sit on one of the chairs. If it was that big a deal, then the redhead could eat by herself.

Drawing herself up in a huff, the cat stormed off, as best a skinny kitty could at any rate, disappearing around the divider into the living room.

At the table, Kim heard the now familiar muffled thump of Ripley jumping up onto the couch, and then the sound of the dry ticking the clock in the other room made, as the apartment settled.

A knock on the door ruined that perfect silence.

"Who the hell?" Kim muttered, glancing at the clock. It was 6 p.m. She wasn't expecting anybody… Then she remembered. Her eyes widened and she jumped up. "Oh, crap!"

She had arranged for a study session with a guy in her Chemistry class tonight; Andy…something or other. He had asked for some help before the test coming up and she'd reluctantly agreed. She hadn't been very social since her dad's accident. It had taken a lot out of her, and she really had no desire to get back into the whole drama. That's why this little 'get together' didn't appeal to her at all. It was just another job to get done and out of the way. God, sometimes even Kim thought she was too much for her own good.

"Someone must have slipped me something when I made this decision. I had to have been high."

Another knock sounded, this one seeming a little more impatient.

Kim sprinted in to the den and looked down at Ripley. "You, behave. I don't want him here, but I can't just send him packing. Not when I already promised to tutor him. So we both have to deal with it." She patted the cat's head and went to open the door.

She opened the door and was greeted by an overpowering wave of Axe body spray. She resisted the urge to gag at the strong smell and gave a weak smile instead. "Hey…Andy."

The tall, muscular young man standing just outside the doorway stepped up a bit too close for Kim's comfort. "Hey yourself, Kim. How's things?" He all but pushed past her, eyes scoping out the living room before lighting back up as he focused his attention on the redhead, flashing her a well-practiced smile. "Nice place. Kinda far from campus though."

"Um, it was on short notice, this was all the realtor had left that wasn't in the suburbs." she answered with a shrug as she shut the door behind him, a little miffed that he'd entered her apartment without her permission. "So, ready to study?"

Andy waved a hand over his shoulder. "Yeah, sure. In a few minutes. I brought some Chinese take-out we can eat before we get started. You know what they say about working on an empty stomach."

Kim raised an eyebrow at the brown haired man's back and for the first time noticed the bags of Chinese food in his hands. In fact, if it wasn't for the messenger bag slung over his shoulder, she would think that he was only here to hang out and eat.

"I've already had dinner," she said, a tad curtly. "But you can go ahead and eat. We'll just sit and study while you do." She didn't wait for a response, just picked up her book bag and made her way to the table.

"Oh, come on, Kim!" Andy said, following her. "All work and no play makes Kim a dull girl," he gave her a lopsided grin.

Kim rolled her eyes at the saying. "Well, when I start chasing you around with an axe, then you can start to worry. Right now we need to study. I've got work in the morning, so I can't be up too late."

Andy sighed and set the food down. "Okay, okay…you got it. Whatever you say." He arranged the food so that he was all but bumping elbows with Kim and sat down with a faint smile. "Let's get started."

The redhead dug out her Chemistry 102 textbook, thumping the behemoth on the table along with a purple spiral notebook. "Okay, I took down most of the notes from the lecture we had last week. You mentioned you were having trouble following along, right?"

"Hmm? Yeah, got it in one. I missed a few classes at the beginning of the semester and it kinda came back to haunt me," the brown-haired gym rat spoke, right before shoveling a forkful of Orange Chicken into his mouth. "Bhut, yu kno--," he paused in mid-chew, swallowing before he continued, "I think I've been having the most problems with my potentiometric titration results. My graphs keep coming out all crazy." He pointed with the fork at one of Kim's graphs from that particular assignment. "See, yours looks fine, but when I did it, I kept getting an extra line in the middle." The sauce covered fork hovered over the graph in question.

"The Grans Plotting? Um, you did bring your notes and your Graphing calculator?" Kim found her eyes focusing on the wavering fork, and unconsciously slid her notebook out from under the danger zone.

"'Course, I got 'em in my bag," he replied, and the fork dropped back onto his plate as Andy went for the bag. There was a quick rip of Velcro as he pulled out the prompted items. Flipping open the notebook, he stabbed a finger at a series of graphs; indeed each one bore two plotted lines.

The two of them stared at the page for a moment, Andy with a quizzical look on his face, and Kim with a frown that slowly turned into an amused roll of her eyes.

"I think I get what you did wrong. It's nothing big, really. Professor Keane told us this was a pretty common mistake. It was probably on one of the days you didn't come to class," she picked up the Graphing calculator as she was talking, and turned it on. Fiddling with it for a moment, she pulled up the plotting function and entered the data from one of Andy's failed graphs. It came up just like he'd copied it onto the page.

"That's what I'm talking about. It's not just me, if you got the same thing."

"Yes, and that's pretty much the problem," the redhead toggled the menu and scrolled down until she found the

_Chart Type_ option. "You've got it set to line graph, and while that sounds like it should be the right one…I mean, we are trying to plot a line…but, if you set it to scatter, then it should work fine," she selected the proper setting, "and here…we…go.," she pressed the redraw button. The resulting graph was the required single line. "Easy as pie."

"Damn, that easy huh?" Andy fixed Kim with a sheepish smile, rubbing the back of his head in mock embarrassment, incidentally flexing his softball sized biceps, making it pretty obvious why he was willing to wear a t-shirt out in such crappy weather. "I thought I was doing something wrong with the equations, but man, this kind of makes me look pretty stupid."

"Well, it's not called a common mistake for nothing, so I wouldn't worry about it too much. At least you won't have this trouble on Monday," Kim hedged, more than a little uncomfortable with the close proximity. "What else were you having trouble with," she said a little too quickly in an effort to move on.

"Oh," he finally dropped his arm and quickly thumbed through his notes, stopping when he apparently found what he was looking for. "This part here, I did the mole conversions and it came out like this," he circled the bit that was kind of off, with a groomed nail. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure this bit is wrong. But, I checked the numbers three times…"

For the next half an hour, Kim found herself correcting the other student's mistakes, the majority of which were simple errors. It didn't take long before she began noticing a pattern and that none of the errors were the same twice. The redhead started to get a sneaking suspicion that Andy had edited his notes to look like he'd goofed up far more than he actually had, if he'd been wrong in the first place at all. The longer they sat there, the more Andy kept steering the conversation off track, usually with some random self-centered comment.

It began to really bother her the more she considered it, and made this whole tutor session a big waste of her time. She had her own real studying to do, and wasting her free time for this idiot's idea of an excuse to spend time with her wasn't sitting well with the redhead. If he wanted a date, he should've just asked instead of interfering with her time off. But, other than an awkward moment or two, he'd at least kept himself civil, so she decided maybe she was reading too much into things. Kim continued to give him the benefit of the doubt.

From the living room, Shego listened as Kim went on to explain what an idiot the other student was, and how his brains must have shrunk along with other useless parts of his anatomy. How 'roids were not the way to go, and that maybe if he actually showed up to class more than once a blue moon, he might stand a chance of learning something.

Well, not in any of those exact words, but that was the impression that the cat was getting from the boring exchange. It wasn't enough that Kimmie was having to put up with the beefed up retard, but from her vantage she could tell the boy loved to hear the sound of his own voice, and it reminded the former villain of a certain Senior Junior, only without quite so much vanity, but certainly an ego to match. It was still enough to make her feel like her ears were going to bleed. The boring ass science lesson wasn't helping matters any. That of course, was when things started off in a direction that virtually demanded Shego's attention.

"I'm pretty sure I get it now." Andy said, leaning closer to Kim. "You know, I really appreciate you doing this for me."

Kim tried not to gag when she caught another whiff of the liberally applied spray; this time a whole lot stronger since he was practically up in her face. "...why don't you try a few on your own, now that you've got the hang of it?" _Please, please, please. Just back away a little. I am so going to gag if I have to keep smelling that crap._

Andy nodded, a boyish grin crossing his face. "Sure. Let's see if I'm as smart as you."

She rolled her eyes as he looked back at the book and started doing a problem.

Ten minutes later he finally stopped punching numbers into the calculator. "There," he said. "Nothin' to it. Take a look."

She did so, leaning over to look at the screen, and almost jumped out of her seat when she felt an arm settle around her shoulders.

"Whoa!" she yelled as she sat up and shrugged his arm off her shoulders. "Not cool."

Andy raised an eyebrow. "What? Why not? I was just getting comfortable."

Kim raised her own eyebrow and frowned. "We're studying, Andy. Not on a date."

"Whatever. Not like it really matters," he said, putting his arm back on her shoulders. "We're alone in this apartment. That's all I need."

"No," Kim growled, standing up. "We're not alone. My cat's here." _Oh, God. LAME!_

Andy started laughing. "Your cat's here? Ooo, I'm scared!" He stood up beside Kim and leered at her. "Face it, Kim. You're hot. Do you think I really care about Chemistry? Seriously? I got this stuff whipped." He snorted. "I just wanted to be alone with you. It's not like you didn't notice. C'mon, you wouldn't have let me in otherwise."

She took a step back. "Well, you can just forget it. I'm not interested."

"And why should that matter?" He asked as he stepped toward her. "Now, we can do this the nice way, or…," he shrugged, leaning in a good head and shoulders above the redhead. "Well, you're smart, I'm sure you get the picture. So, what do you say? It'll be fun, I promise."

Only one thought went through Kim's head, _Aw, hell_.

The young woman ducked around Andy and put a few more steps between. "You need to leave, now," she said, her green eyes never leaving him. "You don't want to mess with me."

"Or what?" Andy sneered as he turned around. "What is little Miss Anti-social gonna do to me? Hit me with her notes? Or maybe threaten to stock my books for me?" He laughed and shook his head. "The tough act doesn't suit you, Kim. It'd be easier on you to just give in now rather than later."

Kim clenched her fists. She could fight him, and she could put him down hard. She knew that. But she didn't want it to go that far. This wasn't something she could just walk away from if it came to blows. Andy might be a macho jerk, but he wasn't some Hench goon that she could pound and forget. The last thing she needed was to get slapped by the local cops for excessive force. And there was the little voice niggling in the back of her head. She'd been out of the game for a few years now. Sure, she still exercised and worked out but she hadn't *really* fought since…well, since her last run in with Shego. That put the tiniest damper on her desire to just deck this guy and toss him out on his ass. But, if he kept pushing her…

Plus, she really didn't want to mess up her apartment. There was still the deposit to keep in mind.

"Look," she said through clenched teeth, feeling a bit of the old fire stoking in her chest. "Just leave. You don't know what you're getting into. You _do_ know who I am right? Just take your things, and get the hell out of my apartment before I kick you out."

"I'm not leaving, Kim. Not until I get what I want," he ground out, tired of her posturing. With that, he lunged at her, hands reaching out.

A black streak attached itself to his thigh, hissing, growling, and clawing. Kim watched in shock as her cat blurred, climbing higher up. And she grinned as the muscle-bound young man screamed bloody murder as Ripley tore into the crotch of his pants.

"Holy shit! Get it off! Get this fucking beast off of me!" Andy yelled. He reached down in wild desperation, grabbing at the writhing, tearing thing, and eventually got a grip on it as he stumbled backward into the divider. "Get the fuck off," he cried out through the pain that contorted his face into a pathetic mask. "Augh," he grunted and slammed the handful of fur into the far wall on the other side of the living room with a sickening crack. Once he got the cat off him, he fell to his knees, sobbing and clutching at his wounded groin; a thin gout of red seeped through his fingers as he whimpered, "…the fuck, you… you bitch."

Kim watched, frozen as Andy picked up his bag and somehow managed the presence of mind to get his notebook in the scramble. He was out the door as fast as he could hobble, leaving a trail of words and blood that failed to reach the stunned redhead.

Sounding so very far away, the distant thud of the apartment door slamming shut jogged something, and Kim blinked. "Oh, oh god…Ripley," she flew across the space that lay between her and the kitten like it wasn't there.

When she got there, Kim couldn't help but let out a horrified groan. Ripley was crumpled at the base of the wall, a small mass of black with one leg jutting out in an odd angle. The kitten was still conscious, because those bright green eyes were fixed on her with such intensity, Kim almost flinched away. There was pink flecked froth bubbling around Ripley's muzzle, and when she tried to mew at Kim, it came out wet and faint. The kitten's head dropped back to the carpet, but her eyes never left the redhead and it mewled pitifully again.

"Shh, shh, baby, it's okay. It'll be okay," Kim's voice cracked as she tried to sooth the injured cat. She started to reach for Ripley, but drew back at the last moment, second guessing herself. What if she aggravated the injuries? But, Ripley was spitting up blood! Were her lungs punctured? God, what was she supposed to do? "I-I need to call the vet," she stood back up hesitantly from where she'd been crouched. "Where's the damn phone," she spun around, eyes raking the apartment for the cordless. What if Ripley died while she was busy getting help? Kim choked back a desperate sob, and lunged for the phone once she spotted it on the arm of the couch. Snagging the handset, she darted back to the kitten's side.

Shaking fingers held down the number 2 button, and she was thankful she'd thought to set the Veterinarian's office to speed dial. "Come on, Pick up, pick up…pick up the phone!" Kim yelled uselessly at the phone, turning most of her attention back to her cat, while in the background, the phone crackled with a small tone, waiting to connect.

Kim watched as the light in Ripley's eyes began to dim. "No, no, you hold on, hear me…just a little longer, for me. Okay?" Spurring the redhead on, the phone in her hand clicked, and a warm voice spoke into her ear.

"Hi, you've reached Arkham Veterinary Clinic. Our hours are from 9am to 5:30pm on weekdays and from 10am to 3pm on Saturdays. If you'd like to make an appointment, please do…" Kim slammed the useless phone into the carpet out of frustration, flopping down to sit with her back to the wall next to Ripley. It just had to be the machine, didn't it? What had she done to deserve this!

A weak hacking tore her frustration and Kim jerked her head back to the dying kitten. Ripley trembled and finally closed her eyes, dropping her head into a slowly widening pool of blood. With a wordless cry, Kim reached out to gather the broken kitten into her arms. Even in her deteriorating mood, the sharp glint of something caught her eye, and one hand reached out to pick up whatever it was, while she held the kitten to her chest with the other. That bastard was going to pay for this, Kim ground out a scream through clenched teeth even as she felt tears stinging at her eyes.

She had no idea just how long she sat there, venting uselessly, crying until her eyes were red and swollen. Her nose itched and her arm had long grown numb from cradling Ripley's heavy body. Absently, she turned the thing she'd found over in her palm, rolling it around, until all the blood had smeared away onto her hand. Kim's red rimmed eyes eventually fell, and she looked long and hard at the tiny ring shaped stone. It was a dull green, and seemed to strike a chord deep in her subconscious. But, it was a fleeting thing, and she closed her fist, worrying mindlessly at the stone with her thumb.

God, her arm was starting to cramp up something fierce. Cracking her back from side to side using the wall, Kim blinked, finally coming out of the fugue she'd been in. She looked down, giving her pet a loving but sad look of farewell, and nearly dropped Ripley in the process. "W-what?"

It was no small wonder that her arm had gone numb, for the cat she was holding so close was considerably larger than before, and could hardly be confused for a kitten, no matter which way she looked. The cat that was currently taking up almost all of Kim's lap space was easily twice her previous size. But, that paled in comparison to the truth of the matter. Now that she was paying attention, Kim could feel the warm body she held, vibrate slightly with each slow breath that it took. Ripley was…Ripley was sleeping.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Kim Possible belongs to Disney. This is a work for fun, not profit. A fan fiction by Alcandre & Six-string Samurai. "Lingering."

Kim just stared, then blinked and stared some more. How? How was this possible? Not only was the cat almost twice as large as she had been, she was…alive, alive and breathing.

"Ripley," Kim whispered letting out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding. "Oh, God." Kim's already fragile emotions broke once more. Tears welled up, spilling over before she could stop herself, this time out of happiness and relief. She pulled the cat closer to her chest and buried her face in the black fur on Ripley's back.

The student couldn't explain what she was feeling. She had only found Ripley just two days ago. How could a bond have developed so quickly? Why was she so devastated when she thought the cat was dead?

It could have been that any source of friendship, coming from a human or animal was welcome. It could have been that Kim felt a sort of companionship with the cat, who was also alone and in a new place. Or it might have been that Kim was desperate for some sort of relationship with someone who didn't judge her for who she was and what she had done in the past. That was a precious thing that she didn't feel she could get at the school, or at work.

Too many people never bothered to look past Kim Possible the hero, and expected things that she didn't want, or wasn't able, to fulfill. Andy had been the other side of that coin, seeing her as just another face in the college crowd, albeit a pretty one. But, his want of her had been no less demanding.

More time passed without Kim noticing as she sat there, comforting herself with the continued presence of her cat. It wasn't until she realized that she couldn't feel her left leg that she thought to take a look at the clock. Groaning, she saw that it was getting late, just past midnight. Ripley was still sleeping soundly, despite the redheads fingers idly playing in her glossy black coat.

Kim struggled up, wincing at the pins and needles sensation shooting through her leg. Limping to the bedroom, cat still in her arms, she decided then and there that she was staying home tomorrow; no matter what Mr. Harrison said. She would just call in the morning and explain that she had woken with a bad head cold and couldn't make it in. Kim hadn't used any of her sick days, or really taken any time off yet, so hopefully her boss would just let it go.

She laid the cat gently on the bed and hurried through her nightly routine, not wanting to leave Ripley alone for too long.

When she finally fell into bed a few minutes later, she pulled the cat closer to her with a small sigh. Closing her eyes she let a smile cross her face. "I'm so glad you're okay, Ripley." She gave the cat a scratch on the top of her head.

When she was almost asleep her mind reminded her that her cat, previously kitten sized, was now the size of a full grown cat. But really, it wasn't like she could do something right now. Ripley was alive and that was the important thing. The rest, well, it would have to wait until morning, when she had the presence of mind to worry about it.

Before long, she drifted off into an easy sleep. For the second time in a long while her dreams were free of self-recrimination and doubt.

*****

Chapter 3

*****

Shego jerked awake, bolting upright and twisting around to try and blunt the impact she knew was coming. All she ended up doing was jarring her shoulder against the headboard, and plopping against the side of a large pillow. She lay there for a moment, regaining her bearings and trying to slow the rapid thudding of her heart. Part of her mind slowly came to terms with the fact that she wasn't in the middle of a fight, nor from the look of things, was she still in the living room for that matter.

As she calmed down, her eyes flickered around, picking out obvious details that had escaped her sleep fogged brain. _Kimmie's room_. _Then_, the black cat turned and found herself sprawled out next to a large mass of tangled red hair, a shade that she'd recognize anywhere, _pumpkin_. _Thank God, you're all right_. Shego-cat found the sudden tension seeping back out of her bones. But, she rolled over onto her feet, wanting to be sure, even if only for her peace of mind.

Like she thought, half-crawling over the sleeping redhead, Shego found the slightly round face still lost in the land of nod. Unmarked and unblemished, Kimmie showed no sign of having been involved in a tussle with that idiot she'd let into the apartment. Not that Shego expected there would be. She knew full well what the girl was capable of. It had only been the sheer idiocy, and gall of the would-be rapist in even attempting to assault Kimmie, which had prompted Shego to fly off the handle and tear into his hide. Her paws tightened, jabbing claws into the slumbering college student.

"Ow," Kim mumbled with a voice thick with sleep. Something sharp was sticking into her arm; in fact, it was a lot of little sharp things. And it hurt. She slowly opened her eyes and tried to focus on the black form hovering over her. She blinked a few times before Ripley finally came into focus.

"Ripley!" She shouted, fully waking up. She sat up and grabbed the cat, pulling her into her arms. "Thank God, you're all right!" She cuddled the cat to her chest. "I was so worried about you." Pulling back a little, she studied Ripley with a critical eye. "You look okay, besides the fact that you've suddenly put on some weight…ugh you're heavy now," Kim sat up and ruffled the fur on the cat's head playfully.

She took a deep breath and smiled at her cat. "Thank you, Ripley," she said softly. "You protected me last night. That was amazing. I really didn't want to get into a fight with that jackass. And you saved me the trouble." She kissed the cat's head. "You totally rock!"

Ripley let out a soft groan that gave Kim the impression that she was hugging the cat a little too tight; even if the cat _had_ put on a few pounds.

"I'm taking the day off today," Kim said as she set the cat back on the bed and stood up. "I'm staying home with you so we can figure out this…growth spurt…thing." She gave Ripley one last pat on the head and went to the kitchen to call Books & Things.

After a rather irritating phone call with Mr. Harrison, mostly consisting of him tearing into her about being sick and how he would never find anyone to come in to work for her at such late notice, she hung up the phone and looked at Ripley, who had followed her into the kitchen.

"Now for breakfast. You hungry? 'Cause I sure am!"

_Did princess just call me fat? Growth spurt thing…what's going on here?_ Shego sat on the bed for a little while, puzzling over the redhead's erratic behavior. At least, until she got it in her head to check herself out and see if it was in fact to do with her, or if pumpkin had been more affected by the attempted assault than Shego figured.

_Whoa, holy crap…get a look at this!_ Shego craned her neck this way and that, eyes wide in surprise at finding her feline body filled out. She was sleeker nowhere near the emaciated kitten she'd appeared the night before. Her black coat shone with a healthy luster, in the places where it hadn't been matted by Kimmie's petting anyway. Come to think of it, now that she had the presence of mind, she felt much better, physically and mentally. Her head wasn't as muddled as it had been over the last few days, and her chest no longer tightened with every other breath. Frankly, it was a wonder she hadn't collapsed from exhaustion just from wandering around the apartment before now.

_I think Kimmie mentioned something about food_, Shego reminded herself before she got too carried away checking herself out. With a little spring in her step, she leapt from the bed and sauntered out the bedroom and made her way to join the redhead in the kitchen.

Ten minutes later found both cat and Kim at the table, enjoying a more decent than usual breakfast. Well, Kim was seated, and Shego had resigned herself to reclining just beside the next seat over. The cat was in a good mood, and didn't feel like pushing the streak of good luck by trying to sit directly at the table again. Even if she didn't really see a problem with it, it wasn't like she was shedding or anything. Plus, breakfast was pretty good, especially coming from Kim.

The college student had decide that since she wasn't in a rush to get out the door, she would take her time getting herself up and ready to face the day; which meant food a tad better than toasted bagels with cream cheese or jam. She'd busted out the frying pan and whipped up a plate of scrambled eggs, a few slices of bacon, toast and a glass of orange juice, the pulpy kind that she liked. The redhead had given some of her eggs to Ripley, putting them in the new bowl she'd picked up for the cat on the way home from the vet.

Kim finished half of her food before she turned her attention down to Ripley, who she found had pulled the dish away from its place near the wall and was eating her food about two feet away from Kim's chair. "Hey, don't just eat the eggs, that other stuff is good for you too." She good-naturedly scolded the black cat.

Ripley just looked up at her, seemed to roll her eyes, and then went right back to eating her eggs.

Kim finished eating and put her dishes in the sink and watched with a grin as Ripley pulled her dish back over near the wall. "You're a weird cat," Kim said shaking her head. "But I guess it fits. I would need a weird cat. I'm not exactly normal myself."

She scooped the cat up in her arms and carried her to the den, plopping down on the sofa. "Now, let's talk about what happened last night after Andy stormed out of here, cursing up a blue streak."

She placed Ripley in her lap and ran her hand over the cat's body. "You've grown, that much is obvious. But how did you grow so fast?" She sighed and scratched behind the cat's right ear. "And I'm almost positive you died. I mean, you stopped breathing. You were bleeding from the mouth, for God's sake!" She shrugged. "I mean, everyone's heard that cats have nine lives. I guess maybe this means you've just used up one."

Kim studied the cat in her lap, trying to find something that would give a hint to the answer to all her questions. Suddenly, she remembered the stone. She looked around the den, trying to recall what she did with the stone last night.

She spotted it on the coffee table in front of the sofa and reached to pick it up without dislodging Ripley. "What the hell _is_ this?" she muttered when it was finally in her hand. "And where did it come from? You? Did you swallow it at some point? You sure did spit it up…" She let her head rest on the back of the sofa and sighed again. "I keep thinking up more questions. This isn't getting me anywhere."

Her green eyes stared at the ceiling as her mind tried to work through the puzzle that was her cat. Her hand continued to stroke Ripley's back while the stone was rolled around in her other hand almost in sympathy of last night.

As the redhead continued, lost in her thoughts, Shego lay there, weighing the potential of her next few actions. For one, she immediately recognized the stone that Kimmie was laboring over, how could she not, she'd stolen the necklace that it belonged to just days earlier. But, what was this about it having been _inside_ her? Shego didn't know how she was supposed to take that news. _I sure as hell didn't swallow a damn necklace, that's for certain. _She sat up and batted Kim's hand away so she could get a better look at the tiny jade stone in Kimmie's other palm. _Yep. That's too much of a coincidence to be anything else. Shit, does this mean I got eight more of those buggers rolling around in my body? What sick kind of joke is this? I mean, I guess this is better than being dead, but a cat? Come on. Cat food sucks. _

Shego looked down at her paws, trying to come to a decision. _Lying around all day is a good gig and all, but princess is right, I'm not even a normal cat. Heh, must be fate, can't even catch a break with a cat's life. If it's not a fucking comet, it's a cursed necklace._ Out of spite, or the headache she felt coming on, Shego didn't know, but she slapped the stone ring out of Kim's hand and jumped off of the startled redhead's lap. She sighed mentally, _Come on princess, let's get this over with._ She stared up at Kim from atop the coffee table. _Now, what to do…Ah hah!_

Spying the remote control, she darted for it and pawed at the power button, getting the TV to turn on after a few tries. _Hah, look at that! Cats don't turn on appliances. Kimmie, get with the program, you already know something's up._

Apparently it wasn't good enough of a trick, because the redhead just stared at Shego with a slack expression on her face, probably more perturbed that the cat had knocked the stone out of her hand than the feat of genius.

_Erg, what's it gonna take pumpkin? Think think think…can't be a stupid cat trick._ Ironically, Shego sat back on her haunches, propping up her chin with a paw as her tail swished back and forth. _Maybe I can try and write a note, or something. You can do this…work that brain._

Kim felt her mouth fall open when Ripley knocked the stone out of her hand. _What the hell?_ She thought as she watched the stone roll away. The sudden noise of the TV drew her attention back up and her mouth stayed open when she saw her cat next to the remote control and the TV on when it hadn't been previously.

_What the hell,_ she thought once again. Her mind was frantically trying to catch up with what was going on, but it apparently wasn't working quite fast enough.

Ripley suddenly reared up from her position on the coffee table and seemed to smirk at Kim. Which was weird in itself but when the black cat did a back flip, slightly awkward in execution but still a decent approximation, off the coffee table Kim's eyes bugged out and she heard herself gasp.

"Holy shit, Ripley," she said. "What's gotten into you?"

The cat sighed and rolled her eyes at Kim before jumping back onto the sofa and putting her front paws on Kim's shoulder, bringing her eye level with the college student.

Kim stared into emerald green eyes, searching for whatever it was the cat wanted her to apparently see. At first there was nothing there; just the eyes of a frustrated cat. But Kim looked deeper, desperate to find what was bothering Ripley so much. She thought for a moment that there was something familiar, though it was all too fleeting, gone before the redhead could get a handle on it. Kim blinked and pulled back a little, dislodging the cat from her shoulder. She blinked again and stared at Ripley, who was still looking up at her, seemingly put off.

Shego pushed away from Kim in frustration. This _isn't enough; she's just not getting it. Grr, what's it gonna take?_ Casting about the small apartment, she looked for anything that might help her convince Kimmie that it was her in this cat's body. But, she already knew that the college student was on the frugal side at the moment, and the only real luxury was the TV set, which she'd already tried using as a prop. _There's got to be something in this dump I can use._

Shego hopped back down off the couch and padded across the room, swinging her head this way and that, in the hopes of finding anything useful. As she passed by the kitchen, she got a glimmer of an idea, and made for the half-eaten bowl of cat food. _Yes, this'll work great._ Putting her paw on the rim of the bowl, she pressed down hard and had to jump back when the thing flipped over and nearly clocked her in the forehead.

Kim got up from the couch, curious as to what Ripley was up to, and had to reign herself in when the cat made a giant mess, spilling x's and o's all over the linoleum tile.

It was a bit of a bitch, but after a few minutes of frustration, she managed to arrange the pieces into some semblance of order with her paws. At first she'd started out to write something a little clearer, but the damn food was too slippery on the tile, and the best she could do was spell out her name…even if it looked like it was written by a first grader.

Sitting back on her haunches, she stared up at Kim expectantly, knowing full well the redhead was right behind her, standing watch the entire time she'd been working.

Kim raised an eyebrow as Ripley seemed to play with the food she refused to eat. But when it started to look like a word, her heart started beating faster and her eyes widened.

"She…go…?" Kim just stared at the cat food. "She go where?" Kim asked. A growl was heard from the cat and the college student shrugged. "I don't know what you want, Ripley." Kim rolled her eyes. "God, I feel like I'm talking to Lassie about Little Timmy." Green eyes looked back at the cat food and she studied it again. "She go. She go. Shego." A loud gasp echoed through the apartment as lightening seemed to strike the former hero's brain.

"Shego? Shego! You know Shego?" Kim fell to her knees beside the cat, putting her hands on the floor beside Ripley. "What about Shego? Is she still alive?"

Ripley sighed and stepped closer to Kim. She sat back on her haunches and brought a paw up to Kim's cheek and just laid it there, as if cradling Kim's face. The red head was once again gazing into Ripley's eyes. And she searched again, but couldn't see anything no matter how hard she stared.

"Gah, cat!" Kim pulled her head away. "This is weird! What do you want from me?"

Ripley placed her paw on Kim's face again, her eyes showing her frustration, desperation, and hope. The student could almost see the pleading in the eyes before her. She could almost hear the begging for her to understand.

"I'm trying, Ripley. But what is it about Shego that you know? And how do you know Shego?" Kim ground out, getting more frustrated with her inability to understand just what the cat was trying to tell her. "You know, this would be a whole lot easier if you could just talk."

Shego wanted to cry, or maybe bash her head against a wall. Kimmie wasn't this dense before. _Ugh, how am I supposed to make it any clearer?_ She considered the scattered food. _Doy, maybe I'm the stupid one here_. She padded back over and began arranging more of the pieces, but already she could tell there wasn't going to be enough. Damn it. Shego huffed and scattered the meow mix that had spelled out her name, and used them to spell out the words, '_I am_.' Facing Kim again, Shego meowed, thumping her chest with a paw. _If she still doesn't get it, I'll be damned if I'm gonna sit here all day playing charades and twenty questions._

Kim felt her eyes widen once more. "What?" she whispered. "You are…Shego?" she fell to her butt and just blinked. "I'm not a stupid person," she said to out loud to herself, marshalling her thoughts. "In fact, I'm pretty smart, in my honest opinion. So, if my cat is telling me that she is…" she paused and swallowed. "Shego, then I wouldn't believe it. Right? Right. This is ridiculous. People don't just come back to life as cats."

She ran a hand through her hair. "I mean, there _is_ that whole reincarnation thing, but you've got to be kidding me. A cat?" Kim mussed her hair in vexation. She paused to think over the last two days, trying to recall just how Ripley behaved. Sure, there were little things that kind of _maybe_ reminded the redhead of the departed thief, but nothing she could point out and go, that's so totally Shego-like. The concept was just so…out there. This was the sort of thing that happened in movies, not real life. "Yeah, like aliens trying to take over the world…or mad geneticists creating mutant animal hybrids…only happens in 'Island of Dr. Moreau'."

Kim stared down at Ripley, trying to mentally superimpose an image of a noirette in a black and green catsuit. It wasn't hard to do, since the concept was already running around in her head. It also brought to mind a few scenarios as to how such a thing might have happened. As far as she knew, no one had seen Shego's body prior to the burial. The green skinned woman hadn't been in a condition for an open casket, judging by the news report of the crash. That alone had raised a few flags in Kim's opinion at the time.

Her first thoughts had leaned toward the villain having gone into hiding, but Drakken was present at the funeral, which had put a damper on that idea. DNAmy might have been involved, or maybe Shego had enlisted her aid, and this was the result of an experiment to prolong the comet powered woman's life. Erg, with so many possibilities, Kim couldn't outright discount all of them. "So, maybe this cat _is_ Shego," she murmured, admitting that she'd seen enough crazy things to not at least give the concept a chance.

Kim sighed. "But it's still bizarre." She pointed at the cat, who was just sitting there listening to her babble. "Why'd she pick a cat to get stuck in?" The redhead had already discounted the whole reincarnation situation, if just by a bit of simple mathematics. Shego had died less than a week ago, and Ripley was at least a few months old kitten when Kim found her out by the front steps. Grr, but then there was the whole 'get huger in minutes' thing to consider.

"You do act like her. Sorta. I guess it's kinda scary actually. You roll your eyes and glare. It's pretty uncanny how much you resemble her, in a way. If Shego _did_ come back as a cat, you would definitely be the kind of cat she would come back as." She leaned down and got on eye level with the cat. "You are trying to tell me that you're Shego, right?"

The cat seemed to sigh, and shook her head, turning back to the spilt cat food. Kim watched over the cat's shoulder as different letters were painstakingly crafted.

"D…O…" Kim muttered as each letter took shape. "Y…" She paused. "Doy." Her eyes got as big as dinner plates and her breath made a quick exodus from her lungs. "Oh my God! Shego!!"

_And we have us a winner folks_, Shego closed her eyes for a moment, taking the time to celebrate the fact that Kimmie wasn't in fact brain damaged as she'd first feared. _Finally, I can get decent food again._ Her eyes jerked open the moment she felt a warm pair of hands grab her around her chest and loft her into the air. _What are_, Shego's inner dialogue cut out as the apartment suddenly tilt-a-whirled.

The redhead spun around in a circle, lofting the cat above her head, a smile wide on her face. "You're alive! Shego! This is amazing, it's really you…and you're alive!" Kim rotocoptered with the cat for a few more revolutions before pivoting to a stop and mashing the dizzy Shego-cat to her chest. "This is great!"

_Yeah, it's great…now put me down, or at least let me breathe princess._ Shego wedged her paws up between herself and Kim's breasts, pushing to get a little air. _Calm down a little. You'd think I'd died or….oh, yeah, doy._

Kim frowned when Shego pushed away from her. "But why are you a cat? And how did you find me? What happened?"

She stared at the cat, as if expecting an answer. Finally, it dawned on the student…

"Oh,yeah," Kim muttered. "You still can't talk. You're a cat." She chewed on her bottom lip. "So, what now? Where do we go from here?" She gave an exasperated sigh and hugged Shego to her chest again. "Too bad you _can't_ talk; you know, like that one cat in that Japanese cartoon, the one with all the girls and magic powers." She shook her head. "Whatever, that was Ron's thing." She narrowed her eyes and looked back at Shego. "You know, knowing that you're Shego doesn't really help matters much. It just raises more questions."

Kim walked back to the den, Shego still in her arms. "But at least I've got some excitement back in my life." She sat down and placed the cat beside her on the sofa. "So, let's think this out. How can we communicate without cat food all over the floor? You obviously can't speak, and miming everything would be a pain in the ass, I'm sure." She gave Shego's paws a critical stare. "Holding a pen is probably out of the question." Kim turned her attention back to Shego's face. "Got any bright ideas?"

It took some doing, but Shego resisted the sudden urge to plant her face in her palm. _Yeah, pumpkin. You see, I've been playing dumb this whole time, and my great plan to reveal my identity went off without a hitch…yeah, right_. Instead, the black cat stared pointedly at the spilled food, and then back at Kimmie, with a shake of her head in the negative. _Maybe you could buy a can of alphabet soup next time you're at the store._ She noticed Kim was getting that look in her eye, the one that told the world if push came to shove, the redhead would roll up her sleeves and push right back. _What, what'd I do_? The cat tensed involuntarily, trying to figure out what had set pumpkin off.

"You're gonna make me do it, aren't you," Kim's brows knit together.

Shego took a step back, _make you do what? I don't think we're on the same page anymore here._

The redhead folded her arms under her breasts, continuing along on her own mental tracks. "I figured I had to do it sooner or later, I was just hoping for later. Like, a couple more years down the road, later." She dropped her arms, and suddenly leaned over toward her old rival. "Do you know how awkward it got when Wade hit puberty? I had to start locking my kimmunicator in a drawer after I caught it on and pointed at me a few times when I was in the middle of getting out of the shower." She looked down and slightly to the side for a moment. "I totally didn't realize what was going on until like the third time. I still don't know to this day if I was more embarrassed or angry with him once I figured it out."

A strange noise pulled Kim's attention back to Shego. At first she thought the catified woman was going to start puking again, as the cat had fallen over onto her side and was twitching, making a dry hacking sound in her throat. This went on for a few more seconds, before Shego covered her face with her paws and started to settle back down. It dawned on Kim that the sound she'd been hearing was what passed for laughter. Shego was laughing at _her_. "Hey, it wasn't funny. I haven't talked to him in almost two years because of that…and other stuff," Kim turned away again.

That was almost enough to get Shego started again. _K-kimmie! You caught your Nerd-in-my-pocket peeping on you a couple of times, so you gave him the cold shoulder…for nearly two years! Do you even know how often I had to deal with Dr. D pulling stunts like that? Well, not so much after I found that he's deathly allergic to pain, but come on. The nerdlinger's gotta be what, fourteen, fifteen? You can't blacklist a teenager just because his hormones decide to kick in._ She got another half a chuckle out when a sudden impact bowled her off the couch and send her rolling to a stop on the carpet. Shaking her head to clear it, she looked up to find the redhead brandishing one of the throw pillows from the couch. _Oh, that's it. You wanna play princess? We can do that._ Shego bunched up and sprang; clearing the distance faster than the redhead could try and bop her with the pillow a second time.

Kim's eyes widened and she tried to move out of the way of the rapidly approaching furry missile, but she wasn't fast enough. Shego caught her in the chest, her weight causing Kim to fall back on the sofa with a soft "oof". The black cat then proceeded to bite Kim's fingers on the one hand that she managed to raise fast enough to guard her face.

"Ow," Kim cried out half in pain and half in amusement. It didn't hurt…much. It was obvious that Shego was holding back a good deal. The student struggled to get the upper hand and finally succeeded in sitting up. Shego fell off Kim, landing on the sofa, and Kim took the opening to resume her offensive. Her right hand went straight for Shego's stomach with fingers hooked into a decent approximation of claws. And she started to tickle. But she wasn't aiming to make Shego laugh. It was the type of tickle one used on a cat while wrestling with them. Kim dropped the pillow to free up her other hand to fend off Shego's swiping paws. "You are so gonna get it, Shego."

Shego batted at the offending hand, claws only slightly extended and teeth snapping in desperation. Small scratches started to appear on Kim's hand and arm, though fairly shallow and drawing little if any blood. With a deft twisting of her whole body, Shego maneuvered herself out from under Kim's hand and scrambled backward, eyes watching Kim for the next move.

"Whatcha gonna do now?" Kim asked with a smirk. "Attack me again? Cause we see how well that went last time."

Shego's eyes narrowed and she pounced, forcing all her weight on Kim's shoulder.

"Ack!" Kim yelped as she fell once more, but this time she landed on the floor instead of the cushioned sofa. She watched as the black cat shifted to get a better position and pressed one paw against her throat to hold her in place, and bent forward lightly nipping her ear. "Stop that!" Kim said, pushing Shego up and off of her. "You don't have to get all cocky about knocking me off the sofa. This isn't king of the hill."

_Oh, don't start complaining now; you're the one that started this. I just so happened to finish it. Face it, just because I'm a cat doesn't mean I don't still have the stuff_. Shego padded away, swishing her tail victoriously. _Getting beaten by a kitty, that's gotta burn, right pumpkin?_ She stopped to regard the redhead who was getting back to her feet. Lifting one of her paws, she scuffed it against her chest, as if she were buffing her nails. _So, you going to stand there all day like a sore loser, or you gonna give dial-a-nerd a call?_

"God, you're still kind of a jerk, aren't you."

_Calling me names just because I ruffled your feathers Kimmie? Copying me isn't the way to go, trust me. Besides, I thought your parents raised you better than that…_, the cat paused her preening, a little uncomfortable mentioning the redhead's folks given what she knew of the situation back in Middleton; even if it was just to herself, as Kimmie couldn't hear her thoughts any more than she could understand it when Shego's attempt at speech came out as mewling and yowling sounds, nonsense even to the former human's ears.

Even still, Kim wasn't wholly unaware of the abrupt shift in Shego's mood. Actually, it was almost easier to judge by the cat body language, as Shego's ears had drooped, and her tail had stilled. She knew it wasn't because they'd just been messing around. Since when had that ever bothered the villain one way or the other…never in Kim's experience, and if it had the woman had never let it show. "Shego? What is it? What's up?" The cat blinked, and Kim felt strangely relieved when Shego seemed to perk back up.

_It's nothing Kimmie. Nothing that's any of my business anyway, Shego told herself, and regarded Kim with a slight tilt of her head. So, about getting us some two way communication going on…_ The cat made her way over to her sole source of wordage and got to work.

Kim followed along, a little excited about being able to see what was going on in Shego's head. The feeling lasted all of the time it took the single word to form. Kim spat it out as if she'd had a taste of the cat food herself, "Wade."

_Got it in one, princess. Now, go get your little doohickey. The sooner you deal with your problem, the faster super nerd can get my problem taken care of. Hell, maybe he can figure out what happened to me while he's at it._ Shego sat there and gave Kim the most commanding stare she could muster.

"Please don't make me do this, Shego," Kim pleaded with the cat. "It's been two years. I really don't want to call him." She knelt down in front of Shego and looked her in the eyes. "It didn't end well, last time we spoke," she rubbed at her temple with one hand. "I think this isn't as difficult as we're making it out to be. It doesn't have to be something crazy." Kim looked down at the cat. "Keep it simple, right?"

The cat just stared at her, as if Shego was trying to bend Kim into compliance with the sheer force of her will.

"Damn it, Shego!" Kim started to get angry; about what, she wasn't sure. Maybe it was left over anger from her last meeting with Wade and Ron. "I can't do this! I'm not strong enough to face them yet!" She sucked in a breath at her last sentence, not meaning to blurt that out to her former rival. She sighed and sat down on the floor, rubbing a hand over her face. "Maybe my brothers could think of something," she whispered desperately. "I could give them a call."

The only sound for a few seconds was the click of the refrigerator and the dripping of the faucet for the kitchen sink.

Kim looked back at Shego and groaned at the steely determination in the cat's eyes. With another sigh she played her last card, though unconsciously, her eyes shifted to the side as she spoke. "Besides, I don't exactly have my Kimmunicator anymore." She looked at the floor, her face coloring. "I kinda threw it out a window the last time I talked to Wade," she admitted. "I use _regular_ phones now like a _regular_ person." She stood up and nodded, gathering herself up. "So, we need to think of something else. Wade is a no go," that said, Kim walked out of the kitchen without looking back.

_Did you just ignore me, again? I'm the one stuck like this and you want to ask those little monsters to help out? Who knows what they'll think is a good plan. Probably something that involves copious amounts of fuel and a blackened crater in the end. I'm so not down with that._ Shego felt her hackles rise along with her irritation. _Damn it, princess! I always thought you were a little tenacious, but I didn't realize you were this bull-headed. So what if you showed the roly-poly a bit of skin? You were probably all wrapped up in a towel at the time anyway!_ The cat started to get so beside herself that she was gnashing her teeth and stalking back and forth across the kitchen tile, scattering the meow-mix all over. _Quit being such a baby!_

Kim had little to no warning before the Shego struck her upper back with a yowl, sending the redhead staggering toward the coffee table.

_I don't believe that crap about you not having your blue doodad! That thing was practically fused to your hip for years. Even if you're not talking to Nerdlinger, you expect me to swallow that you didn't hold onto it for old times' sake, just in case something came up? I was a freaking villain Kimmie…Evil! And you think I can't tell when you're lying to my face? _Shego continued to cling on the redhead's back, despite nearly getting crushed when Kim tripped on her own feet and sent them crashing into the small table.

"Shit!" Kim screamed as she hit the table on her side. A soft creaking was heard before the table collapsed under Kim's weight, slight though it might be. As she fell through the remains of the table, she hit the ground with a groan muffled by a mouthful of her own hair.

Springing out of the mess, Shego pushed off of Kim and watched warily as the college student rolled off the tabletop muttering something under her breath. Then those green eyes were fixed on the black cat's own narrowed orbs. Pure, unadulterated anger was rolling off Kim in waves.

"What is _wrong_ with you?" The red head yelled. "Seriously, Shego! What was that?" She pulled herself into a sitting position, favoring her side a little. "You just attack me out of the blue, for no freaking reason! Are you upset that I don't have my Kimmunicator ready and waiting at your beck and call? Is that it? Look what happened to my coffee table! I'm not made of money…I can't just go out and buy another one of those," she slapped the top of the table with a scowl forming on her face. "You better be glad nothing else got broken," She stumbled up and rubbed her side, a gasp leaving her lips when pain shot through her body. "You were always so quick to fight. And as much as I loved tearing it up with you back then, this…this is ridiculous. Fighting with a damn cat," She pulled up her shirt and gave herself a once over, particularly just above her hip where she'd nailed the edge of the table. "Great, there's gonna be a huge bruise there, I can feel it. I just had to be scheduled for inventory tomorrow, didn't I."

Anger was welling up inside Kim like a flooded river. And for once, she didn't want to hold it in. "Damn it all to Hell!!" She screamed as she kicked a table leg across the room. "It's not my fault you're in this situation, Shego!" She turned, furious, facing the cat once more. "Don't hate me because you look like a cat. _I _didn't do it. _I_ thought you were dead. _I_ was the one that took you into my home and took care of you. You can take whatever bit you in the ass and shove it. God, for once…just get over yourself." She ran a hand through her hair and stormed out of the room, still muttering under her breath.

Remaining where she stood, Shego watched Kimmie disappear around the corner, presumably to hole up in her room. Not thirty seconds later the sound of the shower running proved her wrong. She took in the mess in the kitchen, the cracked table, and the crappy décor of the apartment as a whole. A hollow feeling sunk into her gut, and Shego shook her head, moving to leap up onto the couch. _I don't need this right now_.

Stretching her back she lay out across one of the cushions, staring out blankly at the empty television screen. _I can't believe she told me to 'get over myself,' maybe that pumpkin head of hers is starting to go bad. Not that I wouldn't be pissed if some crazy cat jumped me from behind. Yeah, smooth going there blackie, got the whole 'pet' thing nailed down._

With a small huff of annoyance, she rolled onto her side and put a paw across her face, blocking her view of the room. _Who would've thought that not being able to talk would be such a bitch…or suck all the fun out of wiping the floor with Kimmie? Yeah, I so don't want to deal with this crap right now. Maybe I can get Kimmie to turn on the bath for me when she gets done. When was the last time I had a good soak anyway?_

Shego thought about that, as it was preferable to wondering what she was supposed to do with Kim now. _God, back in St. Louis? No…before that. Ew, that means I haven't even showered in more than a week._ She tried to sniff herself, but all she got was a nose full of cat and meow-mix, the latter being the more prevalent smell, much to her dismay. _Whoa, that cinches it. I don't care what Kim says, I'm getting myself a damn bath._

Kim leaned against the shower wall, letting the hot water run over her body, wincing as it pounded her bruised hip. _Damn Shego. Had to start something that I really didn't want to finish, didn't you._ She pushed off the wall and grabbed the shampoo. As she washed her hair she forced herself to calm down. She knew she had overreacted. She knew that. But it didn't make what happened any less irritating.

She hung her head. _Damn it. _The water ran over her hair and into her face, washing away the grime from the day but not doing much for the memories of years past.

"_You were spying on me, Wade?"_

"_I-I just…I-"_

"_Spit it out, Wade!" _

"_It wasn't anything serious!"_

Kim winced at the play of memories shifting through her head. She had been hard on Wade. But his spying on her couldn't have come at a worse time. She had been stressed with work and taking care of her dad and then *bam* she suddenly realizes that one of her closest friends had been using her trust to peep on her.

That had hurt; a lot. So much so that she flew to Wade's house, burst into his room, and confronted him. But what hurt the most was seeing the fear and pain in Wade's eyes right before she stormed out of his room, vowing never to talk to him again. Of course, she didn't really care at that point in time about what Wade had been feeling, but weeks later, after she had finally been in a reasonable state of mind, she realized how hard she had been on the younger boy. Nevertheless, her stupid pride hadn't allowed her to apologize. Like always, it was her way, or the highway. Only, she'd been the one to go, leaving everything behind.

And now, two years down the road, she was too embarrassed and ashamed to apologize. Ron had told her right before he left for college to get over it and move on, talk to Wade and listen to what he had to say. But she had been mad at Ron at that point as well, just for different reasons. He was leaving her, going off to pursue his own dreams. And she wasn't. She was at home, taking care of a paralyzed father instead of chasing her dream. It hadn't seemed fair. Not one bit.

Her self-confidence took a real beating back then. She felt lower than dirt. She wasn't saving the world, she didn't have any friends, and she was still at home, doing something that she knew was right but ultimately didn't make her happy.

The water starting to turn cold shook Kim from her thoughts. She sighed, turned off the rapidly cooling water, and just stood in the shower, staring at the wall.

"Damn it," she whispered. "I need to apologize to Shego." She opened the shower curtain and grabbed her towel. "And while I'm at it I should probably swallow even more of my pride and call Wade."

In the living room, Shego lounged on the couch, waiting for Kim to finish her shower. After the first two minutes of listening to the water running through the wall, she eventually went for the remote, fiddling with it for a bit until she found something mildly entertaining to pass the time.

She settled for a channel that was airing an episode of "Young and Beautiful." While she wasn't an avid Soap fan, the antics of the various leads had been a reliable source of distraction in the past, when Drakken had been in what she privately referred to as his, 'hibernation phase,' when he got mopey after a particularly nasty plan had suffered a Team Possible intervention.

The cat ended up engrossed in the love quadrangle that had been on a slow burn for the past season, and was staring rapt at the screen when Kim eventually finished in the bathroom, and came back out from getting dressed. The redhead did her level best to ignore the sight of the ruined table, and instead found herself staring between the drama on the screen and Shego, who was completely glued to the set. Stepping around the slab of wood in the middle of the carpet, she sat down on the end of the couch opposite the green eyed feline.

The moment Kim's weight settled on the cushion, Shego tore her eyes from the unfolding melodrama to stare up at the college student. They locked gazes for a moment, until the cat let out a faint meow, and turned back to the show resting her head on her front paws. Kim wasn't quite sure what to make of that; the snarky thief had always been a little hard to read back when she was human, this change wasn't making things easier, that was for sure. The redhead picked absently at a piece of lint on the arm of the couch, while she deliberated just what she was supposed to say to Shego, let alone still gathering herself to face a certain computer-savvy old friend.

There was a good five minutes of silence between them, while on the screen, Carrie demanded that John tell her who he was sleeping with. Words were bandied; things better left unsaid, spoken…the whole thing hit a little too close to home for comfort. As the scene devolved into a drawn out verbal war, Kim finally looked back at Shego. "I'm sorry," she said softly but just loud enough for the cat to hear.

Shego looked over at her, emerald eyes not giving away any hints about what she was feeling.

Kim sighed. "You're not gonna make this easy for me, are you?" She closed her eyes. "I shouldn't have gone off on you like that and I definitely shouldn't have just dismissed your idea to call Wade." She looked back at the TV, not wanting to meet that unwavering gaze anymore. It was a little unnerving, apologizing to a cat.

"My pride has always been a fault of mine but it never really clicked, until I moved here. And just knowing that doesn't make it better. I've been trying to work on it, but obviously, I haven't gotten much better."

"_Tell me who it is, John!" _Carrie shouted from the TV.

"_I can't, Carrie. Your sister would kill me."_

"_It's my SISTER?"_

Kim mentally rolled her eyes at the soap then looked at the floor. "When you brought up Wade, my mind blasted back to when all that…shit happened. And I couldn't handle it. I'm sorry."

She sat there for a second then sighed as she rubbed her palms on her jeans. "And I sort of lied; I still have my Kimmunicator. I did throw it out the window after my talk with Wade but…it was such a part of me. I couldn't bear to part with it." She shook her head. "I'm so OCD," she muttered before continuing in a louder voice. "I went back to get it, fixed it up, replaced the batteries, and kept it in a drawer, vowing never to use it but it felt right to hang onto it, you know, 'just in case.' Whatever _that_ means."

She finally looked back at the cat. "So, once more…I'm sorry. For everything. I'd like to consider us friends and I'll do whatever I can to help you out, even if that means contacting someone I thought I'd never to speak to again."

_Great, this was what I didn't want to get into. _Shego meowed, frustrated with the decidedly inconvenient lack of wordage. It made her feel more like a heel than she already did for getting all worked up at the younger woman earlier. Actually, it was even worse now, since it took so long to get anything she wanted to say across, she had way too much time to think about what exactly she was spitting out in the first place. The black cat could curse up a storm in her head, vent all she wanted mentally, and the only one who could hear her bitching was herself. It sucked the fun right out of her usual vitriol. In fact, it sucked the big one. _God damn this._

The cat ruminated for a few more seconds before she realized that Kim was still waiting for some kind of response from her. _So, you're gonna give the nerd some face to face time finally? Good. Gotta start somewhere. If he can rig something up for me, I guess that's a bonus. _Shego turned toward the mess on the floor and the scattered cat food she'd been using as an impromptu message board. _No, screw that tic-tac-toe crap. It takes too freakin' long to mess with…_

Even like this, she knew full well that wasn't the reason she didn't get up from the couch. Kim wasn't the only one who had an apology to make, and words didn't always cut to the heart of the matter. There were certain things that you could never put into writing, and Shego had always hated the thought of writing feelings down. It was never quite what you really meant. And therein, lay the crux of the problem.


	4. Author's Note

I have decided to hand the reins of this story completely over to Six-string Samurai. I have so many other priorities right now and felt like I could not devote all of my attention to this. So, it is now in capable hands. Please search for Six-string Samurai and check it out (I wish I could leave a link but alas...I can't). It will be updated. Leave reviews and feel free to contact me with any questions. I'll send them on to Six-string Samurai.

Thanks, guys, for your continued support! Enjoy!


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